Hurdles behind India's & vertical ambitions

Despite surging urbanisation, booming real estate and ambitious city visions, the country has only one building that towers over the 300-metre mark.

Apoorva Mittal traces the limit of our vertical ambitions.Non-profit organisation Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) defines supertalls as buildings that measure at least 300 metres (984 feet).

Lokhandwala Minerva in Mumbai is at 301 metres.

Completed in 2022, it is India’s first — and so far only — building that crosses the threshold.

Just about.KEY REASONS INDIA HAS NO SUPERTALLS“There are many bottlenecks namely fragmented regulations, approval red tape and lack of infrastructure readiness that prevent supertall buildings from emerging.

The local bodies ( municipalities ) in most Indian cities are not used to handling such projects for approvals.

The requisite technical personnel and specialised expertise to examine them are not there.

Further, there are too many complexities in file movements for approvals.

Also, the infrastructure support, be it roads and traffic management, parking, fire-fighting and safety arrangements, water, power and sewage arrangements, etc, which are essential for such buildings, are also missing.

For the next two decades, India should not waste its time on promoting supertall buildings.

There are other pressing issues — affordable housing, fast and clean mobility, solid waste management, walkability, urban flood management, adequate water management, heat cooling plans, air quality management, etc — that we need to focus on,” said Prof PSN Rao, Dean, School of Planning and Architecture.“From an engineering perspective, constructing tall or even supertall buildings is not an extraordinary challenge.

The more critical limitation is urban infrastructure.

Tall buildings bring higher densities, which, in turn, demand robust support systems: Wider roads, efficient public transport, reliable water supply, sewage networks and emergency services.

Without aligning infrastructure capacity with vertical growth, such developments risk overburdening the city rather than enhancing it.

Supertall buildings typically involve 20-30% higher costs per square foot due to the complexity of structural systems, vertical transportation and safety requirements.

In a market that is highly cost-sensitive, developers often find midrise, high-density developments more viable.

But this is changing.

With the rise of transit-oriented development and more integrated planning approaches in India, taller buildings can be meaningfully and responsibly incorporated.

The focus going forward should be on achieving the right balance between density, infrastructure and livability," said Dikshu Kukreja, Managing principal at CP Kukreja Architects.131711513THE CASE AGAINST SUPERTALLS Diverts capital from affordable housing Increases energy consumption Benefits a narrow eliteAdds pressure on infrastructureMost of north India is highly seismic and that makes construction expensiveExpensive maintenanceConstruction needs to be clean, green, resilient and climate sensitiveTHE CASE FOR SUPERTALLSEfficient land use in dense citiesReduced commute distances (if integrated with transit)Creation of mixed-use urban hubsGlobal positioning of cities With urban population projected to exceed 600 million by 2030, horizontal model is reaching its limit.Supertalls are moving from ‘vanity projects’ to economic necessity in select urban contexts“Historically, the absence of supertall buildings in India was not due to a lack of architectural ambition, but a direct result of urban economics and some regulatory frameworks.

While geographically constrained global cities such as New York and Shanghai necessitated tall buildings early on, Indian metros had the elasticity to expand outward.

The development was driven by a horizontal sprawl model, influenced by restrictive Floor Space Index (FSI) regulations, aviation norms and a market where capital was better optimised across broader land parcels rather than capital-intensive vertical engineering," said Abhinav Joshi, Head of research, India, Middle East and North Africa, CBRE.“When the FSI was increased in Mumbai through various regulations, developers got an opportunity to create supertall residential and mixed use buildings.

However, in some cases, the NOC from the Airport Authorities did create a dampener, and to avoid projects from getting delayed, developers capped the FSI and went on to complete the building.

With the current technology used in India for construction, developers realised that any project that is supertall would result in increased cost of construction, extended project timelines and turnaround time, reduced profitability and a certain unwillingness to pay for floor rise beyond a point.

Construction costs significantly increase above 40 floors,” said Reshmi Panicker, Executive director, land services and residential, Knight Frank India.131711867THE FUTURE: THE BELLWETHERMumbai accounts for most of India’s tall buildings.

Verticalisation is driven by acute land scarcity, high premium realisation, expansive FSI and a market structured around redevelopment economics.

Projects such as Palais Royale (~320 metres) and other supertalls are currently in the pipeline.THE FOLLOWERSHyderabad: Backed by highly favourable development norms, including the removal of FSI caps in specific zones and a corporate occupier base, western Hyderabad and Kokapet are currently executing multiple projects in the 220 metres-240 metres range.National Capital Region (NCR): There is significant longterm supertall potential, particularly through integrated, transit-oriented mixed-use developments.

Ambitious projects such as Supernova Spira in Noida demonstrate appetite.Kolkata: The 42 (260 metres), one of the tallest completed buildings outside Mumbai, shows the city’s ability to absorb taller buildings. ...