82 housing projects in Gr Noida ‘critical’
CURRENTLY, ABOUT 203 HOUSING PROJECTS ARE BEING CONSTRUCTED IN GREATER NOIDA
GREATERNOIDA: The condition of 82 housing projects in Greater Noida is critical, a top official of the city said on Monday, sending alarm bells ringing for home buyers in the wake of issues affecting the real estate sector in the national capital region.
“Developers of 82 housing projects haven’t submitted their action plan as of delivery of their respective housing projects,” Greater Noida Authority (GNA) CEO Debasish Panda said.
“We are giving them another deadline and have scheduled a meeting with all builders, including these 82, on August 25. If they fail to submit an action plan by then, they will face legal action,” he said.
Panda, however, refused to share the names and details of these builders or their projects.
Currently, about 203 housing projects are being constructed in Greater Noida and the crisis comes in the wake of insolvency proceedings initiated against Jaypee Infratech’s 27 housing projects for defaulting on approximately ~526.11 crore loan.
The National Company Law Tribunal has also admitted an insolvency plea from Bank of Baroda against Amrapali Group’s firms, Ultra Homes Private Limited, Silicon City and Amrapali Infra, which have projects in Noida as well.
The move has triggered panic among home buyers, who fear they will lose the money paid upfront and not get the promised homes.
According to GNA, the builders cannot finish their projects due to financial reasons, but buyers have accused the build- ers of diverting funds collected from them. “I cannot assume they have diverted funds until we conduct a probe,” Panda said, adding that he is hoping to get clear details from the builders at the August 25 meeting.
He also said that a private agency could be hired to find out whether builders have diverted funds and the reasons for delay. “If survey finds out the builders are guilty, then law will take its own course,” Panda said.
The authority is yet to recover around Rs 7,200 crore in land dues from defaulting builders. Builders have failed to clear land dues citing dip in sales amid slowdown in realty sector.
Among the remaining 121 builders, 52 have sought for rescheduling their outstanding land dues under the Project Settlement Policy (PSP) and 49 have applied for occupancy certificates to offer possession to buyers.
GNA has asked 20 other builders to avail help if required for completion of their projects.
“Seventeen out of the 52 have already deposited their instalments while 35 builders who want land dues to be rescheduled are yet to deposit their installments,” said Panda.
Under the PSP approved by the UP government last December, a builder can deposit part of the land dues, for instance 25%, initially, and the rest can be scheduled later.
However, the policy, which expired on June 15, has failed to address issues and the government is planning to modify it.