Airport Height Restrictions in Bangalore: The Height NOC and Buyer Checks
Buildings near an airport are limited in height so that aircraft have clear airspace when they take off and land. Bangalore has four airfields, so a large part of the city falls under these limits. This guide explains the rule, how the permitted height is worked out, which areas are affected and what a flat buyer should check.
The Rule in Brief
Building heights around airports are governed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (Height Restrictions for Safeguarding of Aircraft Operations) Rules, 2015. The rules were notified on 30 September 2015 as G.S.R. 751(E) and apply across India. They cover land within a radius of 20 km from the reference point of an aerodrome.
Within that radius, a building, mast, chimney or tree may rise only to the height permitted for its exact location. A taller structure needs a no objection certificate (NOC) for height clearance before the building plan is sanctioned. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) handles civil airports, and the defence authorities handle defence airfields.
Bangalore's Four Airfields
Each airfield in the city has its own protected airspace, and the zones overlap in North Bangalore. The table below lists the four and the areas each one affects most:
| Airfield | Type | Areas most affected |
|---|---|---|
| Kempegowda International Airport | Civil | Devanahalli, Bagalur and the villages around the airport |
| HAL Airport | Defence, run by HAL | Old Airport Road, Domlur, Indiranagar, Koramangala, Marathahalli |
| Air Force Station Yelahanka | Defence | Yelahanka and its surrounding layouts |
| Jakkur Aerodrome | Government flying school | Jakkur, Hebbal, Thanisandra |
The result is that tower heights vary sharply across the city. Projects around Devanahalli are planned around the airport's approach paths. Near Old Airport Road, the HAL airfield keeps most buildings low, which is one reason the belt has few tall towers.
How the Permitted Height Is Worked Out
The limits come from a set of imaginary surfaces drawn around each runway, known as obstacle limitation surfaces. A structure must stay below the surface that passes over its site. The surfaces are lowest near the runway and rise with distance.
The surfaces around a runway
Each surface protects a different stage of a flight, and together they form a bowl of clear airspace around the airfield. These are the main ones:
- Approach surface: a rising slope beyond each runway end, under the path of landing aircraft.
- Take-off climb surface: a rising slope beyond the runway end, under departing aircraft.
- Transitional surface: slopes that rise outward from the sides of the runway strip.
- Inner horizontal surface: a flat plane over the airport and its immediate surroundings.
- Conical surface: a slope that rises outward from the edge of the inner horizontal surface.
Sites under the approach and take-off paths, often called the funnel, carry the tightest limits. A plot a few kilometres to the side of the runway may be allowed far more height than a plot at the same distance in line with it.
Height above sea level, not above ground
Permitted heights are stated as a top elevation above mean sea level (AMSL), because aircraft altitudes are measured from sea level. The height a builder may actually construct is the permitted top elevation minus the ground level of the plot. Bangalore is on high and uneven ground, so two plots on the same street can end up with different limits.
A simple example shows the arithmetic. Kempegowda International Airport is at about 915 m AMSL. If a site nearby has a ground level of 920 m and a permitted top elevation of 950 m, the building may rise 30 m above the ground. A proposal of 40 m on that plot would be 10 m over the limit and would have to be cut down.
The site elevation entered in the application therefore matters a great deal. An error of a few metres in the ground level changes the number of floors that are legal. A clearance granted on a wrong site elevation can be withdrawn later, even after construction has started.
The Colour-Coded Zoning Map and the NOC
AAI publishes a colour-coded zoning map for major civil airports. The map divides the area within 20 km into grids, and the colour of each grid shows its permitted top elevation. A local authority may sanction a building up to that elevation without sending the file to AAI.
Three situations need an application for a height NOC:
- The proposed top elevation is higher than the figure on the zoning map.
- The site falls in a red grid, or under the approach, take-off or transitional areas.
- The proposed top elevation is above 150 m AMSL, the most a zoning map can clear.
Applications are filed online through AAI's No Objection Certificate Application System, known as NOCAS. For HAL Airport and the Yelahanka air base, the clearance comes from the defence authorities that run the airfield. In North Bangalore one site may fall within the range of more than one airfield, and the lowest permitted height applies.
A height NOC is valid for eight years from the date of issue and may be extended up to twelve years. An applicant who is refused, or given less height than requested, may appeal to an appellate committee of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The local authority must make sure the building matches the sanctioned plan and the NOC.
What Goes Wrong for Buyers
Height problems are rare, but they are serious when they occur, because they affect whole floors. A project in South Bangalore lost about 30 months when the height clearance given by HAL was cancelled during construction. Buyers on the upper floors of such a building carry the greatest risk.
The usual causes are few. The site elevation was entered wrongly, floors were added beyond the cleared height, or the NOC lapsed before the structure was finished. In each case the building may be refused an occupancy certificate until the excess height is removed.
The central government has also moved to tighten enforcement. Draft rules published in June 2025 set out a procedure for ordering an owner to reduce or demolish a structure that breaches the height limit. Clearance papers are therefore as important as the title deed for a flat on a high floor near an airfield.
What a Flat Buyer Should Check
These checks apply to any high-rise project in the areas listed above, and they take little time when the builder's papers are in order. Ask for the documents before paying the booking amount:
- The height NOC, with its number, date, issuing authority and validity period.
- The permitted top elevation in metres AMSL stated in the NOC.
- The site elevation used in the NOC, compared with the levels on the sanctioned plan.
- The height of the tower on the sanctioned plan, including lift rooms and water tanks on the terrace.
- The number of floors in the sanctioned plan against the floors being sold.
- The occupancy certificate for a completed tower, which confirms the building matches its plan.
The top elevation of the tower is the site elevation plus the full building height. That figure should be equal to or lower than the permitted top elevation in the NOC. The approvals a builder has uploaded for a registered project are open to view on the Karnataka RERA portal, and they should agree with the papers shown at the sales office.
Height Limits and Home Prices
Height limits shape what gets built, and that affects buyers in two ways. Low limits mean fewer floors on the same land, so projects near the HAL airfield tend to be low-rise with fewer homes. Farther from the runways, in parts of Yelahanka and Hebbal, taller towers are possible where the permitted elevation allows.
Noise is a separate matter from height. A home under an approach path hears aircraft through the day, whatever the height of its building. A visit at a busy hour for flights shows how much that matters to the household.