In this study, a concept of using piles for settlement control has been examined throughrna Finite Element modeling technique. A raft alone may be adequate in terms of bearingrncapacity but predicted settlement may exceed tolerable values. Hence, piles may bernprovided under the raft foundation to make the system sound. The study begins with anrnanalysis of an unpiled raft foundation to decide the requirement of piles followed by anrnextensive parametric study to optimize the pile usage through three-dimensional analysis.rnThe results indicated that the di erential settlement requirement can be meet with anrnincrease in raft thickness but the vertical settlement increases in the same order. Verticalrnand di erential settlement decreases with an increase in length and number of piles. Forrnthe considered loading and subsoil condition a central pile group area ratio of 26% reducedrnthe di erential settlement signi cantly and the corresponding load shared by the pilesrnreach more than 40%. The pile spacing is an important parameter and the study showsrna vertical settlement decreases with an increase in pile spacing owing to a reduction ofrninteraction among piles while di erential settlement increases with increasing pile spacingrndue to the sti ness reduction of the central portion of the piled raft in which maximumrnsettlement is expected . The load sharing ratio increases with an increase in pile spacing.rnStrategic use of non-uniform pile length con gurations, shorter piles at the center, andrnlonger at edges, enhances the settlement performance of piles raft foundations for thernsame total pile length due to relatively longer piles at edges supports the cantileveredrnraft portion. Pile diameter variation shows no signi cant change in settlement valuesrnas the settlement increase associated with increase in pile diameter is compensated byrnthe frictional resistance increase due to pile circumference frictional area increase. Therne ect of consolidation in the load sharing ratio reaches up to 14% along with its e ectrnin increasing the settlement and hence the usual practice of pre-proportioning the super-rnstructure load to the foundation units may not be the best solution as the long termrnbehavior of these units will be altered due to consolidation.