The short answer: 100 acres, in one place, and a separate approval track that starts at the State Government rather than the Planning Authority. Regulation 14.1 is the largest single scheme in the UDCPR, and it is the only one that lets a developer choose the land use zone rather than accept it.
Key takeaways
- Minimum 40 hectares, that is 100 acres, at one place, contiguous and unbroken.
- Permissible in almost any land use zone on payment of a premium of 8, 10 or 15 percent of the agricultural land rate.
- Basic FSI 1.0 on gross plot area, with 100 percent additional FSI on a 10 percent premium.
- Four approvals in sequence: Locational Clearance from the State Government, Letter of Intent from the Collector, Master Layout Plan, then building permission.
- Mandatory town level amenities: 5 percent gardens, 7.5 percent playgrounds, schools, health, market, town hall and 80,000 sq m of economic activity built up area.
- Social housing at a minimum of 15 percent of the residential basic FSI, disposed through a MHADA lottery.
- Deemed non agricultural status, 50 percent stamp duty concession, 50 percent development charges exemption.
Why this regulation exists at all
Most of the UDCPR asks what may be built on a plot. Regulation 14.1 asks a different question: what happens when the parcel is big enough to be a settlement rather than a building.
Chapter 14, Regulation 14.1, UDCPR as updated 30 January 2025 applies to areas under a Regional Plan or a Development Plan sanctioned under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966. Where a Planning Authority, Special Planning Authority or Area Development Authority has not yet sanctioned its own township regulations, these apply mutatis mutandis until it does. Where a township straddles more than one authority, Government may direct at Locational Clearance which authority will permit and supervise it.
That last provision is the tell. A township is large enough to cross jurisdictions, so the regulation has to say in advance who is in charge.
The site test
Chapter 14, Regulation 14.1.1.2, Requirements of Site is the gate almost every prospective scheme fails.
The area must be 40 hectares (100 acres) or more at one place, and it must be one, contiguous, unbroken and uninterrupted. That second requirement is softened in a specific, practical way: land divided by one or more water courses such as nallahs or canals, by existing or proposed roads of any width, or by railways or pipelines, is still treated as contiguous, provided the proponent builds the necessary connecting roads or bridges at his own cost with permission from the concerned authorities.
Above 200 hectares, the regulation relaxes further. A township larger than that may be segregated into parcels, as long as each parcel is more than 40 hectares, all lie within a 5 km radius, and the land use mix is maintained in each parcel.
What may be included, subject to conditions:
| Land | Condition |
|---|---|
| Afforestation zone land | Only if it is not forest land, and no construction on slope steeper than 1:5 |
| Land in a National Park buffer zone | Subject to development restrictions in the buffer and NOC of the Forest Department |
| Tribal land | Subject to permission under the M.L.R. Code |
| Restored private forest land | Development permission only after permission under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 |
| Buffer zone of a notified Eco Sensitive Zone, mangroves or CRZ outside HTL | All restrictions on development and FSI under the MoEF notification apply |
| Areas under flood line or flood zone | Subject to Regulation 3.1.3 |
| Hill Top and Hill Slope Zone, plus the buffer and flood categories above | Total of these areas restricted to a maximum of 40 percent of the ITP area |
What may not be included at all, under Regulation 14.1.1.2(v): notified forest, excluding private forest land with a Forest Department NOC; water bodies, mangroves, tidal zone, mud flats and area within the high tide line; notified National Parks; Defence Estates; Cantonment Boards; any restricted area; Quarry Zone, notified SEZ, designated port or harbour areas, wildlife corridors, biosphere reserves and Gaothan or Congested Area; notified historical and archaeological places; and anything else Government declares.
Access is its own requirement. The area must have access by an existing or proposed road of minimum 18.0 m width. For Locational Clearance and the Letter of Intent, an existing 12.0 m road will do, but an existing 18.0 m access must be in place before the Commencement Certificate for FSI beyond 25 percent of the project. Where access is from a public road or a Development or Regional Plan road, that road is to be developed on priority by the concerned Authority.
The Gaothan and Congested Area exclusion is the one that surprises people assembling land near an existing village.
A township cannot absorb the settlement it grows around. The village core stays outside the ITP boundary, which means the master layout has to work around it rather than through it, and the road network has to connect to it without claiming it.
That is a design constraint, not a paperwork one, and it is easier to accommodate at the assembly stage than after a Locational Clearance has been notified on a boundary that assumed otherwise.
Four approvals, in order
The ITP track is longer than an ordinary development permission because the first two stages happen before any plan exists.
Banded by stage
- 1. Locational ClearanceState Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, after consulting the High Power Committee. Within 90 days. Valid two years, extendable by two.
- 2. Letter of IntentCollector, after verifying ownership and development rights of all land under the project. Within 45 days. For the whole area or a part not less than 40 hectares. Valid two years, extendable by two.
- 3. Master Layout PlanCollector or the Authority, forwarded to the Divisional Joint Director of Town Planning for technical remarks within two months. Granted with the condition that work does not commence without environmental clearance.
- 4. Building permissionEnvironmental clearance to be submitted at this stage. Additional FSI premium paid here.
Source: Chapter 14, Regulations 14.1.1.4 to 14.1.1.6, UDCPR as updated 30 January 2025
Chapter 14, Regulation 14.1.1.4, Permission and Declaration of Project by State Government lists what accompanies the Locational Clearance application, in two attested sets: 7/12 extracts or Property Register Cards in original dated not more than six months before submission, attested copies of any registered Development Agreement or Power of Attorney, a self attested list of survey, gut or CTS numbers showing the owner of record and the area proposed from each parcel, a part plan of the sanctioned Regional or Development Plan, village maps, and NOCs and certificates from the Water Resources Department where command area is involved, the Forest Officer, the Tahsildar on tribal land and the Director of Archaeology.
The processing fee is Rs 5,000 per hectare for the current year, rising by Rs 500 per hectare each January.
The High Power Committee that Government consults is chaired by the Principal Secretary UD-1, with the Director of Town Planning, the concerned Collector or Planning Authority, and a Joint Secretary or Director UD as Member Secretary.
Two clauses in Regulation 14.1.1.4 are worth reading before land is committed.
Clause (ii) provides that if the proponent fails to comply with the conditions specified at Locational Clearance within the time limit, the clearance stands automatically cancelled, with no refund or adjustment of premium, fees or expenses.
Clause (v) is the opposite, and useful. The Director of Town Planning may, on request, add or delete up to 50 percent of the area under Locational Clearance, provided the remainder is not below 40 hectares. The permissible FSI and other parameters move accordingly. A township is not locked to the exact parcel list it started with.
Chapter 14, Regulation 14.1.1.5, Letter of Intent (LOI) by the Collector is the Collector's ownership check, and Chapter 14, Regulation 14.1.1.6, Master Layout Plan Approval by the Collector (1) or by the Planning Authority, as the is where the plan itself first appears: the Master Layout Plan, prepared and signed by an expert team headed by an architect or a town planner registered with the Institute of Town Planners India, with a contour map certified by the surveying agency, a current satellite or drone image, a phased programme for physical infrastructure with project cost details, and a bank guarantee.
The zone premium, and what it buys
Chapter 14, Regulation 14.1.1.7, Planning Considerations carries the two provisions that make an ITP commercially different from anything else in the code.
The first is zoning. Notwithstanding any other regulation, the project may be permitted in any land use zone of the sanctioned Regional or Development Plan, excepting the excluded areas. For zones other than residential, commercial and U zone, a premium is paid on the agricultural land rate in the Annual Statement of Rates.
| Zone | Premium |
|---|---|
| Afforestation Zone, Hill Top and Hill Slope Zone as shown on the Regional or Development Plan | 15 percent |
| Public / Semi-public Zone, Industrial Zone, T.H. and L.P. | 8 percent |
| Agriculture, No Development Zone, G-1 zone, Low Density Residential Zone, buffer zone of ESZ, mangroves or CRZ, and other zones | 10 percent |
The premium is staged: 10 percent at Locational Clearance, 10 percent at Letter of Intent, 20 percent at Master Layout Plan sanction, and the remaining 60 percent in four equal annual instalments, subject to interest at the Prime Lending Rate.
The second is FSI. If the zone premium is paid, the basic permissible FSI is 1.0, calculated on the gross plot area under the Master Layout Plan without deducting any areas under the slopes or within the high flood line. A further 100 percent additional FSI is permissible on payment of a premium of 10 percent of the weighted average land rate in the Annual Statement of Rates for the relevant year, paid at building permission. Social housing FSI comes on top of both, without premium. And the maximum permissible built up area may be used anywhere in the area under the sanctioned Master Layout Plan.
That last sentence is the quiet one. Consolidated FSI across 100 acres means the built form can be concentrated where the ground is good and the difficult land can be left as landscape while still generating its FSI.
Regulation 14.1.1.7(i)(c) is the limit on that freedom, and it is absolute rather than priced.
No construction is permitted on lands within the high flood line (blue line), in the Hill Top and Hill Slope Zone, or on lands with a slope equal to or more than 1:5, whether or not marked as such on the plan. No cutting, levelling or filling is permitted on such sloping lands either.
They may be used for plantation, parks, gardens and a minimum cutting access road, and their FSI is still available. So the arithmetic works, but the ground does not become buildable by paying for it.
What the township owes back
Regulation 14.1.1.7(iii) sets mandatory town level allocations, calculated for a 40 hectare layout and increased proportionately above that.
| Amenity | Requirement at 40 hectares |
|---|---|
| Gardens and parks | 5 percent of the Master Layout area, of which at least 1,000 sq m at one place as a Town Plaza |
| Playgrounds | 7.5 percent of the Master Layout area, maximum 10 percent of it for indoor games and stadiums |
| Combined school | 5,000 sq m plot and 5,000 sq m built up, exclusive of playground at 7 sq m per student |
| Community health care | 1,000 sq m plot and 1,500 sq m built up |
| Community market | 1,000 sq m general market and 1,000 sq m vegetable market |
| Town hall or auditorium with library | 4,000 sq m plot and 5,000 sq m built up |
| Economic activities | 80,000 sq m built up area, with no dedicated plot insisted upon |
| Public utilities | Fire station 3,000 sq m, sewage waste management 4,000 sq m, cremation and burial 2,000 sq m each, bus station 3,000 sq m, police station 1,000 sq m |
Those spaces are exclusive of the 10 percent open space required at sector level layouts, which is calculated on the sector area excluding roads and town level amenity spaces. That is the same 10 percent recreational open space an ordinary layout provides, applied a second time inside a township that has already given 12.5 percent to gardens and playgrounds.
Residential activities then get the land remaining after all of the above, and a built up area subject to a minimum of 60 percent of the total proposed basic residential FSI.
A further 2 percent of the area, after deducting Development or Regional Plan reservations but excluding roads and road widening, is earmarked and handed over free of cost to the local authority for city level facilities. The base FSI of that 2 percent is made available to the proponent on the remaining land, and where the proponent builds the amenity and hands it over, Amenity Construction TDR is earned under Regulation 11.2.
Chapter 14, Regulation 14.1.1.9, Social Housing is the last obligation and the most specific. The Master Layout Plan must carry a social housing component of at least 15 percent of the residential basic FSI. Within it, 25 percent of the FSI goes to EWS tenements and 75 percent to LIG, and one third of the tenements built must be kept for rental housing, disposed on rent only by the proponent. Sizes follow MHADA specifications. On Commencement Certificate the proponent notifies MHADA, which runs a lottery within six months and returns an allottee list, and disposal is at the ASR construction cost of the year of occupancy plus 25 percent, of which 1 percent goes to MHADA as administration charges. Where MHADA cannot supply a list, disposal is in the market at construction cost plus 20 percent.
And the enforcement clause: every Occupation Certificate for the regular tenements is granted only along with the Occupation Certificate in proportion to the social housing component. The two are released together, which is what stops the social housing being built last and slowly. It works the same way as the inclusive housing obligation does outside a township.
What the developer gets in return
Chapter 14, Regulation 14.1.1.13, Special Concessions is the concession list, and it is substantial:
- Deemed non agricultural use. Land under the approved Master Layout Plan is deemed N.A. with no separate permission under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, and N.A. assessment is exempted to 50 percent of the normal rate.
- Government land. Government land surrounded by or adjacent to the proponent's land may preferably be granted to the proponent, up to a maximum of 10 percent of the township area.
- Stamp duty. 50 percent concession, available at one stage only, either on the proponent's land purchase or on the first transaction from proponent to unit purchaser.
- Development charges. 50 percent exempted under section 124-F(3).
- Tenancy Act relaxation. The rule that only an agriculturist may buy agricultural land does not apply to the proponent for an ITP.
- Ceiling exemption. The agricultural land holding limit under the 1961 Act does not apply.
- Scrutiny fee. 50 percent exempted.
- Royalty on minor minerals. 50 percent exempted on earth excavated during development, and fully exempted if that material is used in the same project.
Chapter 14, Regulation 14.1.1.11, Occupancy Certificate closes the loop at the other end. Before issuing the Occupancy Certificate for the project as a whole, the Collector or Authority must verify completion of all the basic required infrastructure in the Master Layout Plan. For a part occupancy, completion is as prescribed in the phase programme. The Branch Officer grants or rejects with specific reasons within one month.
What the register shows, and what it does not
Deshmukh has 60 acres on the Nashik ring, and the JV offer on his desk describes a township. His question is a good one: how many of these actually exist, and can he see them.
The register is a poor answer to the first half, and the reason is structural.
Source: ReraGenie analysis of MahaRERA filings, captured 15 August 2026
Twenty two projects out of 55,432 file a land area at or above the ITP threshold. Seven are in Pune, four in Thane, three in Palghar.
That is not a count of townships. RERA registers phases, and a township is built and sold in phases over a decade or more, each registering separately with its own land parcel. A 100 acre ITP therefore appears in the register as a dozen or more ordinary looking registrations of two to four hectares each, none of which announces that it is part of a township. The 22 are the filings where a proponent happened to declare the whole holding, not the population of townships in Maharashtra.
So the register will not tell Deshmukh how many ITPs there are. What it does tell him, project by project and free, is what each of those phase registrations has actually done: the filed land area, the buildings and their floors, the promoter's extension history with the reasons the promoter gave, the certifying professionals, and any complaints or litigation with case numbers. Across a promoter's whole portfolio, that is the evidence of whether a township of theirs is being delivered phase by phase or accumulating extensions.
Names and numbers in this story are illustrative.
Frequently confused with
- Where FSI comes from in a restricted zone
- The future urbanisable zone and its infrastructure test
- Completion, occupancy and part OC
- Layout roads and minimum plot sizes
Where the filings come in
A township's Locational Clearance is a gazette notification, its Letter of Intent sits with the Collector and its Master Layout Plan with the Planning Authority. None of that is in the RERA register.
What is in the register, free at reragenie.com, is every phase that has been registered to sell: the land area filed for that phase, the sanctioned and sold units building by building, the promoter's extension history with the stated reasons, and any complaints or litigation.
ReraGenie's project analysis, Rs 2,999 for one project, reads the full filing and the documents behind it and sets the promoter's record against the rest of the register. The area consolidated report covers a whole micro-market at Rs 2,999 for the first project and Rs 1,999 per additional one, which is the view that shows how many phases of a single township are live at once.
Source: Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations for Maharashtra, UDCPR as updated 30 January 2025. Sanctioned under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966.
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