Most of Maharashtra's land is not inside a municipal limit. For that land, UDCPR has a chapter that quietly outranks the rest of the book.

The short answer. Chapter 5, Regulation 5.0, UDCPR as updated 30 January 2025 provides that, in addition to the provisions elsewhere in UDCPR, the additional provisions in Chapter 5 apply to the Regional Plans and authorities listed there, and that these provisions shall prevail over the provisions of the regulations to that extent. So for a Regional Plan parcel, Chapter 5 is read first, and where it differs it wins.

Warning

This is the most commonly skipped step in reading UDCPR. A correct answer pulled from Chapter 6 can still be the wrong answer for a Regional Plan parcel, because Chapter 5 displaces it. The sequence is: establish the area, read Chapter 5, then read the general chapters for whatever Chapter 5 leaves alone.

What the chapter covers

Chapter 5 opens with provisions for all Regional Plan areas, then adds regional entries.

How Chapter 5 is organised

Banded by scope

  1. All Regional PlansCommon provisions, including development permissible adjacent to gaothan, hill station type areas, committed development, station area development, amenity space and residential zone on payment of premium
  2. Named regionsThane, Raigad and Palghar; Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg; Kolhapur; Satara; Hingoli, Buldhana, Washim, Yavatmal and Nanded; Raigad; Solapur; Pune; Aurangabad
  3. StructuralA Board of Appeals at division level, and a list of certain regulations that cease to operate in future

Source: Chapter 5, Regulations 5.0 to 5.12, UDCPR as updated 30 January 2025

Two of those entries do a lot of work in practice.

Development adjacent to gaothan. Chapter 5, Regulation 5.1.1* lets development permissible in a residential zone be permitted within measured belts around settlements and municipal boundaries, on payment of a premium. The belt distances differ by settlement population, by proximity to a corporation, council or Nagar Panchayat, and by whether the parcel is in a Western Ghat eco-sensitive area. The numbers matter, and they have their own rule card.

A Board of Appeals. Chapter 5, Regulation 5.11* constitutes an appeal route at division level against an order or communication of an authority or Collector under these regulations. Most people working in Regional Plan areas do not know it exists. See the Board of Appeals.

What Chapter 5 does not do

It does not replace the rest of UDCPR. Chapter 5, Regulation 5.0 says the additional provisions prevail "to that extent", which is a narrow phrase doing precise work: Chapter 5 wins where it speaks, and the general chapters continue to govern everything it leaves alone. So a Regional Plan parcel is still read against Chapter 4 for permissible use, Chapter 6 for setbacks and FSI, and Chapter 8 for parking, except where a Chapter 5 provision displaces them.

The chapter also carries a list of certain regulations that cease to operate in future, which is worth checking before relying on any provision in it. A regulation that is on its way out is a poor foundation for a scheme that will take three years to build.

What changes this answer

  • Whether the parcel is in a Regional Plan area at all. Inside a Planning Authority, Chapter 5 does not apply, and who the Authority is is the first question.
  • Which region. The named entries differ substantially, and the one covering your district is the one that governs.
  • Whether the area has since been converted. Areas that become Municipal Councils or Nagar Panchayats within a Regional Plan are treated differently, including on the premium rate under Chapter 5, Regulation 5.1.1*.
  • Whether an eco-sensitive notification applies. Eco-sensitive and eco-fragile regions notified by MoEF and CC are excluded from UDCPR altogether by Chapter 1, Regulation 1.1*, so that is checked before Chapter 5 is opened at all.

What this does not tell you

Chapter 5 changes what is permissible; it does not tell you what a specific authority has actually permitted nearby. That is a filings question, and every Maharashtra project's registration, approvals and progress are published free at reragenie.com/projects. For the entitlement stack that applies once the regime is settled, see the UDCPR FSI rulebook, and for reading what a promoter has filed, what MahaRERA filings tell developers.

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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