What are transferable development rights (TDR)?
Transferable development rights (TDR) are floor space credits given to an owner who hands over land for a public purpose. The owner can use them on another plot or transfer them to a builder who will.
Also called TDR, development rights, development right certificate, DRC.
Instead of paying cash for land it needs for roads, gardens or other public uses, a planning authority can pay in floor area. The owner gets a certificate of built-up area that can be used on a different plot or transferred to someone who will use it. The rules are set by each state’s development control regulations.
Example: Maharashtra (UDCPR 2020, Regulation 11.2). TDR is compensation in the form of FSI, issued as a Development Right Certificate (DRC). The DRC states the credit in square metres of built-up area, the plot it came from, and that plot’s rate in the annual statement of rates for the year. TDR can be used only within the jurisdiction of the authority that issued it.
- Who gets it: owners of land reserved for public purposes or roads in the development plan, owners who build the reserved amenity, heritage properties that cannot use their FSI, and some slum and housing schemes. Not where compensation was already paid.
- How much: land surrendered free of cost and encumbrances earns twice its area in a non-congested area and three times in a congested one, if the owner levels it and builds a compound wall (otherwise 1.85 and 2.85 times).
- How it changes hands: the DRC is a transferable instrument. The holder submits it with a registered transfer agreement, and the transfer is valid only once the authority endorses the new holder’s name (Regulation 11.2.10).
- How it is used: the builder attaches the DRC to the application for development permission, and the authority endorses the quantity used. The amount a plot can take is capped by the TDR column of the FSI table for its road width.
Because land values differ, TDR is adjusted when it moves: X = (Rg ÷ Rr) × Y, where Y is the TDR debited from the DRC, and Rg and Rr are the ready reckoner land rates of the generating and receiving plots in the year the TDR was generated.
Worked example (sample figures). An owner surrenders 500 sq m in a non-congested area for a road and gets a DRC for 1,000 sq m. A builder buys 300 sq m of it for a plot elsewhere.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Land rate of the generating plot (Rg) | ₹40,000 per sq m |
| Land rate of the receiving plot (Rr) | ₹60,000 per sq m |
| TDR debited from the DRC (Y) | 300 sq m |
| Built-up area allowed on the receiving plot (X) | 200 sq m |
How it differs from premium FSI. Premium FSI is bought for a plot by paying a premium to the planning authority; TDR is bought from whoever holds a DRC. Greater Mumbai and the other areas outside UDCPR have their own regulations.
Source, read on 9 Nov 2026: UDCPR 2020, updated to 30 Jan 2025 (Directorate of Town Planning, Maharashtra).