Floor Space Index (FSI)

The Floor Area Ratio (FAR) or Floor Space Index (FSI) is the ratio of the total floor area of buildings on a certain location to the size of the land of that location, or the limit imposed on such a ratio i.e. Floor Area Ratio is the total building square footage (building area) divided by the site size square footage (site area).

Floor Area Ratio = (Total covered area on all floors of all buildings on a certain plot)/(Area of the plot)

Thus, an FSI of 2.0 would indicate that the total floor area of a building is two times the gross area of the plot on which it is constructed, as would be found in a multiple-story building.

India has a notoriously low FSI ( rarely above 1.6, even in CBD) which has led to shortage of quality land banks. Someone rightly said the other day "India is a land of opportunities, without any land".