Noida: UP govt has put out a draft unified building code that could sharply change how projects come up across Noida, Greater Noida, Yamuna and other industrial development authority areas.The proposed regulations seek to replace separate rules for every development authority with one common framework. They also plan to raise floor area ratio (FAR) limits across categories, tie higher FAR to the width of the road abutting a plot, reduce setback requirements and remove height caps except where aviation safety or heritage norms apply.The draft Unified Building Regulations for Industrial Development Authorities has been uploaded on the Nivesh Mitra portal for public feedback. Officials said it will apply to Noida, Greater Noida, Yamuna Expressway, UPSIDA, UPEIDA and any industrial development authority created in the future. A Noida Authority official said objections and suggestions can be submitted over the next 15 days, either at the authority office between 10am and 5pm or by mail.Shailendra Bhatia, additional CEO at Yamuna Expressway Authority, said the draft has been shared with all authorities as well as the public. “Once objections and suggestions are received, the draft regulations will be finalized and brought into effect,” he added.The biggest shift is in FAR, which determines how much built-up area is allowed on a plot. Until now, authorities had different caps and exercised discretion over FAR, setbacks, ground coverage and height. At present, industrial plots are generally allowed FAR of 0.6 to 2, group housing 2.75 to 3.5, institutional projects 0.8 to 2.75 and commercial projects 1.2 to 4.Under the draft, FAR goes up and is directly linked to road width. For industrial plots on 12m-24m roads, the base FAR will be 3 and can rise to 6. On 24m-45m roads, the base remains 3 but the maximum goes up to 10.5. On roads 45m and above, the base FAR stays 3, but there is no upper ceiling. In group housing, the base FAR is proposed at 3.5, with scope to increase it to 7, 10.5 or more depending on road width.In simple terms, wider roads can carry denser development. PPS Nagar, a lawyer dealing in land deeds, said the logic is straightforward. “Plots with higher FAR will house greater density and therefore need broader roads. Dense population cannot be accommodated on narrow roads. It is directly proportional,” he added.The draft also cuts setback requirements, freeing up more usable land within plots. Earlier norms effectively limited ground coverage, with setbacks going up to 16m in front and 12m each at the rear and sides. In group housing, ground coverage was around 35%-40%, and in industrial areas 35%-60%.The new proposal, however, requires 9m in front and 6m on the other three sides. Setback is the minimum open space that must be left between a building and the plot boundary.Credai West UP president Dinesh Gupta called the move a positive one. “Noida and Greater Noida had rigid FAR rules, while some other agencies such as Awas Vikas had already revised norms to allow more FAR. This will push development to grow vertically rather than horizontally,” he said.The reduction in setback, he added, reflects the reality of limited land banks in cities.The draft also introduces open-space norms for larger layouts. Projects above 3,000sq m must reserve land for parks — 15% of the total area in residential layouts and 10% in non-residential ones. Layouts below 3,000sq m will not need dedicated park space.
