UP govt may be asked to take over Amrapali to resolve fund crunch
The fund generation (for the projects) has some issues that need to be resolved. We had proposed the sale of FAR (floor area ratio or ratio of built-up area to total plot size) but the Noida and the Greater Noida authorities have not agreed.
R VENKATRAMANI, Sc-appointed receiver
NEW DELHI: The government of Uttar Pradesh may be asked to take over the management of Amrapali projects if the financial issues over completion of flats remain unresolved, said attorney general and Supreme Court-appointed receiver R Venkatramani on Friday. Considering the urgency, the court agreed to hear the matter on December 8.
Venkatramani said, “The fund generation (for the projects) has some issues that need to be urgently resolved. We had proposed the sale of FAR (floor area ratio or ratio of built-up area to total plot size) but the Noida and Greater Noida authorities have not agreed. That reservation still continues. Having regard to the complex issues involved, the state of Uttar Pradesh may be asked to take over the management of the project.”
Under the Uttar Pradesh Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016, Section 8 provides that in the event the registration of a builder or developer is revoked or lapses, the real estate regulatory authority (Rera) “may consult the appropriate government to take such action as it may deem fit including the carrying out of the remaining development works by a competent authority or by the association of allottees or in any other manner, as may be determined by the authority”.
When the matter came up for hearing before a bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi, the AG said, “Today, we have a complex situation with regard to financial issues.” Venkatramani accepted that there were constraints of time, now that he is the attorney general.
The Amrapali Group’s licence under Rera was cancelled by the Supreme Court in July 2019 after the company’s directors and promoters were found to have siphoned off funds of homebuyers. The various Amrapali projects were then handed over to NBCC India for completion and Venkatramani appointed the court receiver to devise methods for generating funds for the completion of projects, which comprise some 46,000 odd flats.
Under the apex court’s monitoring, the project has received a fund of ₹650 crore from the Union government-sponsored special window for affordable and mid-income housing (SWAMIH) investment fund and an approval for a sum of ₹1,500 crore from a consortium of seven nationalised banks.
The NBCC has claimed that till October 7 this year, the company has received only ₹3,120 crore from all available sources against an estimated project cost of ₹9,296 crore
The Supreme Court was apprised of the financial crunch last month when NBCC told the court that only 4,981 of the 46,000 odd Amrapali homebuyers have received possession of flats in the past three years. It promised that all 46,575 homebuyers will get their dream houses by 2024. But to achieve that, Venkatramani suggested the sale of unused FAR in projects of Amrapali in Greater Noida and Noida.
This issue was considered by the Supreme Court but the bench is yet to examine the objections of the Greater Noida authority in detail.