Why India Doesn’t Build Skyscrapers

This little-known rule is stunting India's skyline.

Additional footage and imagery courtesy of Mihir Patilhande, CNA, and The Dronalist.

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[TempleGuitars]

India does build skyscrapers. It's just they're all in the Emirates.

[dwarasamudra]

You forgot to mention the dreaded Airports Authority of India. They impose strict height restrictions across many cities like in Mumbai and Gandhinagar. Mumbai had many skyscrapers above 300m underconstruction (around 15-20) but the AAI stalled these projects and the skyscrapers ended up being only around 220-280m like the World One Tower which was initially meant to be 410m. Conversely, Hyderabad is a city with currently no FSI restrictions and so many skyscrapers (around 200m) are currently underconstruction. Delhi and Bengaluru still have extremely strict FSI though. Dont be under the impression that no skyscrapers are being built in India though. Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad and to a lesser extent Kolkata, are all having skyscraper construction booms

[tvts]

This was really interesting and informative. I am an Indian but I never realised how few sky scrappers we have. I just hope we keep growing as a country and are able to solve this problem in the coming years.

[harshitbaweja]

I always wondered as an Indian why does our country have an extreme lack of skyscrapers! Now I know, thanks for the video

[_sayan_roy_]

I don't know about other cities but at least in Kolkata, there were some skyscrapers projects scrapped due to height regulations imposed by Airport Authority in India, especially because the area in which skyscrapers were about to be built in Newtown - Rajarhat area which is pretty close to the airport. Of course, there are multiple factors.

[SaadAliArts]

Cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Banglore, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Visakhapatnam have potential to build more and more skyscrapers. Mumbai's high population density needs more sky scrapers like New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo

[MithunOnTheNet]

Leaving out Airports Authority of India's cock-blocking any attempt from a builder to go beyond 300 meters in Mumbai is a big omission on B1M's part.

[thanghauzel]

4:55 📍Shillong has a rule that restricts building more than 3 stories for residential and 5 stories for commercial keeping in mind the location being earthquake prone zone.

[altezzaandre]

As Indonesia, I'm also confused why there aren't many skyscrapers in India when it's good for a high population 🙃

[Sohampn]

something you forgot to mention was that Mumbai's Municipal Corporation gives concessions to builders on the FSI limit if the builder does something for them in return say for example the builder provides public parking in the complex the Municipality would allow the builder to build higher.

Another thing is that Mumbai's airport is smack in the middle of the city even if builders wanted to build higher they cant because the Airport Authority interferes and lowers the heights of buildings. for eg. they stopped the contruction of a 320m building called palais royale and made them reduce floors similarly they did not give clearance to another builder who wanted to build a 400m residential tower (the same tower now stands at 290m)

[ayushc]

although i agree with most of these but living in a 2nd tier we do not experience powercuts that often at all since past 5 years..

[surisuresh]

For example, Hyderabad is expanding horizontally that too dramatically increased over last few years . many Hyderbadis love to stay in Individual houses.

[Samuel_J]

Nice to see another video about India. It's interesting to see how these old regulations are changing, and hopefully for the better. Perhaps in a few years there will be more skyscrapers which allow more green space. Combined with more rapid transit, I hope for a reduction in the air pollution that is a problem in many of these cities.

[timmccarthy]

Vani Herlekar is right: Population Density =/= Crowding. Providing more rooms can make more space for people. That's why, here in the USA, the American Community Survey measures them differently: density is people per square mile, but crowding is people per room.

[melonlord]

Even while building my residential house, we had to pay a fine for going a little over the prescribed height limit. So in short, the height regulations here are strict.

[TheKimberlyashton]

Bear in mind, building tall skyscrapers is not equal to modernization or better living standards, improvement of satisfaction of people living in the area is the true goal of modernization, it's not simply defined by the heights of buildings.

[jimsquire-chestnuts]

Skyscrapers don’t create optimum density.

Beautiful cities have a 6 story height restriction: think Barcelona or Amsterdam. And these cities are DENSE - Paris packs 21000 people per km2 (Mumbai is marginally higher although they build above 6 stories).

And Paris’ density is evenly distributed - optimum.

Skyscrapers result in density spikes which amplify congestion. M

[Itsshaunbewarned]

As an Indian, I prefer this European-style façade of our cities, Skyscrapers are a disgusting 21st-century tool to show off your development without any actual development. All we need are clean roads, footpaths, and good infrastructure to look good. Skyscrapers are merely a cheap way to look developed.

[abhisheksaxena]

Mumbai has some amazing skyscrapers. I'm going there this December. Excited to take some photos.

[rhaegartargaryen]

Watching this while living on the 66th floor in South Mumbai, gotta invite B1M over someday.