On a muggy July day, in a swanky lawyer’s chamber, the senior summons his junior with great urgency. “Quick! Hurry, I should get an OTP,” he says, handing over his phone. The junior exits the hall, steps outside the basement of the newly built building in posh Jangpura Extension to catch the cellular network signal. As soon as he hears the familiar sound of the notification, he rushes back to his senior.
Delhi’s ubiquitous basement offices — often in upscale residential neighbourhoods — are some of the most sought-after real estate spaces for ‘professionals’. From a young advocate just setting up her practice to silk-stocking senior advocates, from doctors to chartered accountants, the basement office is a preferred choice, even when they barely let in any sunshine or cell phone network. Then there is another subterranean world — of gymnasiums, cloud kitchens, bars and libraries, many of which are in violation of norms set by civic bodies.
A combination of factors — from how land-use regulations are framed to skyrocketing costs for a piece of the city’s land — have allowed for a booming basement economy to take shape in the national capital. These basement spaces have come under scrutiny given the torrential rains this season and the incident in Rajinder Nagar, where three students of a coaching centre lost their lives when they were trapped in the flooded basement library of the building.
What the rules say
The Unified Building Bye-Laws, 1983, and the Master Plan Delhi, govern the regulatory landscape for basements. These bye-laws prescribe what activities are allowed in Delhi’s colonies (which are categorised into eight zones based on circle area rate) and whether they are designated for residential, commercial or mixed use.
In category A and B colonies, only ‘professional activities’ are allowed in residences. The Master Plan defines these activities as those involving services based on professional skills such as doctors, lawyers, architects, chartered accountants, company secretaries, cost and works accountants, engineers, town planners, media professionals and documentary film makers, and management professionals. In 2016, dietician/nutritionists were added to this list.
The ritzy, much-sought-after locations for lawyers — Golf Links, Sundar Nagar, Nizamuddin East, Maharani Bagh and Defence Colony — fall in these categories.
In 2008, an amendment was made to the Master Plan to specifically allow ‘professional activity’ in basements. “Professional activity in basements is permissible in plotted development, subject to relevant provisions of Building Bye-Laws, structural safety norms and fire safety clearance. In case the use of basement for professional activity leads to exceeding the permissible FAR (Floor Area Ratio) on the plot, such FAR in excess shall be used subject to payment of appropriate charges prescribed with approval of Government,” the provision reads.
Additionally, a 2011 order by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) opened up more of these underground workspaces for them. The MCD order mandated the inclusion of a dedicated floor for parking in all proposals for the redevelopment of individual residential plots. While this was intended to solve the problem of people parking on roads, these floors instead began to be used for reasons other than parking.
basement spaces have come under scrutiny given the torrential rains this season and the incident in Rajinder Nagar, where three students of a coaching centre lost their lives when they were trapped in the flooded basement library of the building.
“Even if residents have to park on the streets, these spaces are used as servant quarters or rented out as office space. The rent typically covers the building’s maintenance costs and pays for the security guard and other staff,” says Shreya Jain, a flat-owner in one of the ‘builder floor’ units in South Delhi.
Another reason why basements and barsaatis (single room sets on rooftops, often constructed without permits) are popular concepts in Delhi is because of the vertical limit for construction. Until December 2022, the Master Plan only allowed buildings to be 15 metres high. After the Supreme Court intervention, this was raised by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to 17.5 metres with stilts.
However, as per DDA rules, the basement is not to be counted in FAR in residential units if used for parking, household storage and services or ‘professional activity’. Additionally, on the number of basements a building can have, the Master Plan states “no limit, subject to adequate safety measures”.
Apart from professional activities, there cannot be any other use of basements. The ‘other activities’ — gyms, diagnostic centres, gaming zones or even coaching centres — cannot run in basements, but only on other floors.
Going underground
In a small, dimly lit basement in Kalkaji, several pool tables of varying sizes stand scattered across the room. In the background, a Salman Khan movie plays on the projector. The pool hall is empty except for a lone caretaker wiping down the tables, readying them for the after-office crowd that will come in the evening. “I paid around Rs 1-1.5 crore two years ago for this place,” says the owner of the snooker house. “We generally get more customers on the weekend, who stay for longer hours,” says the caretaker.
From the outside, not many would suspect a pool cafe behind the entry door. The only thing that gives it away is an LED board with a running scroll reading ‘Billiards, Snooker, Pool’. It is one of many basement businesses that flourish in Delhi. Basements are useful for residents in more ways than one, with cost an overriding factor.
Shamsher Singh, an advocate who works out of a basement office in East Nizamuddin, says, “If I want an office that’s close to the courts and accessible to my clients, and something that’s within a budget, a basement in a residential unit is my only choice. Central Delhi is one of the most expensive real estate markets so what do you do?”
According to a property dealer, the rental rates for a basement measuring around 900 square yards in a newly constructed building in Defence Colony is Rs 2.5 lakh, with the price going up to Rs 3.5 lakh for the ground and first floors, Rs 3 lakh for the second floor and between Rs 4 and 4.5 lakh for fourth floor and above. The buying rate for a basement space in the same area is around Rs 16 crore, while a first-floor space would cost around Rs 13 crore.
Basements are useful for residents in more ways than one, with cost an overriding factor.
Ten years ago, when Pritam Pal and his brother Gautam decided to start a jewellery business on the Kalkaji main road, a basement space was an obvious choice. For one, the price was considerably cheaper than above-ground real estate. “The Airtel shop one floor above ours pays a rent of around Rs 60,000 a month and it’s not even that big,” explains Pritam Pal. “We bought this shop for around Rs 1 crore. I think market rates for a basement like this has gone up to Rs 3-4 crore now.”
But basement workspaces come with their own set of problems. “We can’t lay a single brick here without the MCD or police showing up at our doorstep. Yet, when we raise complaints about waterlogging or lack of parking for our customers, they are nowhere to be seen. We paid Rs 36,000 for a parking space, but our customers still don’t have any place to park when they come to our shop,” says Gautam Pal.
Despite paying around Rs 55,000 a month as rent, legal practitioner Pawas Kulshrestha was aghast when his swanky Defence Colony basement office was flooded during heavy rain on July 28. “I think almost all the lawyer chambers on this stretch were completely flooded. In some chambers, you couldn’t even see beyond the first step (of the staircase),” he says. Kulshrestha’s office bears signs of the deluge. The white walls are now damp and bear seepage stains. “Until recently, all our paperwork was laid out near the reception to dry,” he adds.
According to a shop owner in Greater Kailash-I, who requested not to be named, the area’s ‘basement culture’ changed after the MCD sealed 77 basement shops in 2006. “M Block market was well-known for its apparel shops that attracted a huge number of customers. The MCD’s monitoring committee at that time sealed most basement shops here citing one reason or another and it was only after a High Court order in February 2009 that shops were unsealed,” he says. However, by then, customers moved on to other shopping hubs.
Misha Chandra, a young lawyer who works with a senior advocate in a well-decorated basement office in Vasant Kunj, can’t wait to work in a ‘real office’. “I know everyone has a basement, but when I have to work from the office the whole day, it is really disorienting. It’s sunny when I step in and very dark when I step out but I have no sense of how the day is changing from inside. There’s no window or absolutely any sunlight,” she said.
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