165,000 flats worth ₹1.18 lakh crore stalled in Noida and Greater Noida, says Anarock

In Noida and Greater Noida, there are 165,348 units worth ₹118,578 crore stalled or delayed units. While Gurugram has 30,733 units worth ₹44,455 crore stuck/delayed, the Ghaziabad market has 22,128 such units valued at ₹9,254 crore

Homebuyers who booked flats in housing projects in the Noida-Greater Noida property market are worst affected, with over 165,000 flats worth ₹1.18 lakh crore currently stalled or significantly delayed in these two cities, according to property consultant Anarock.

Noida and Greater Noida account for 70% of stuck and delayed units in the NCR. (Sunil Ghosh/ HT)

In its research, the consultant has taken only those housing projects that were launched in 2014 or before, across seven big property markets — Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune.

Expressing concern over the plight of customers whose investments are at stake, president of Forum for People’s Collective Efforts’ (FPCE), an apex body of homebuyers, Abhay Upadhyay told the media that the cause of the delay of each project should be ascertained and solutions must be found.

Upadhyay also sought stern action against defaulting builders.

According to the Anarock data, 479,940 units worth ₹448,129 crore are “stalled or heavily delayed” across these seven cities as of May 31, 2020. Out of this, Delhi-NCR alone accounts for a whopping 50% with 240,610 stalled or delayed units worth ₹181,410 crore.

Giving further breakup of the Delhi-NCR data, Anarock said that Noida and Greater Noida region account for nearly 70% of total stuck/delayed units while Gurugram’s share is only 13%.

In Noida and Greater Noida, there are 165,348 units worth ₹118,578 crore stalled or delayed units. While Gurugram has 30,733 units worth ₹44,455 crore stuck/delayed, the Ghaziabad market has 22,128 such units valued at ₹9,254 crore.

Delhi, Faridabad, Dharuhera and Bhiwadi together have 22,401 stuck/delayed units worth ₹9,124 crore.

“Project delays have been the bane of the Indian real estate sector over the last decade, particularly in the National Capital Region (NCR). Even the implementation of realty law Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera) had only a little impact on this,” Anarock senior director and head of research Prashant Thakur said.

Among other factors, Thakur said the liquidity crunch threw up roadblocks for many developers in the NCR.The government’s ₹25,000 crore stress fund, launched in the year 2019, has proved to be effective in reviving many stuck projects, he added.

“Needless to say, real estate activity in Greater Noida earlier boomed on the pretext of boosted connectivity to Yamuna Expressway which passes through the region. Builders cashed on the connectivity prospects and launched innumerable projects over the years. Builders also launched projects in Greater Noida West, which are now stuck under various stages of non-completion,” Thakur said.

Anarock did not mention the names of the developers as well the projects that are stalled or significantly delayed but Jaypee Infratech, Unitech, Amrapali and The 3C Company are some of the big realty firms whose projects have been stalled in Delhi-NCR.

There are many other builders who have defaulted on their promises to deliver their projects on time to customers, who have already paid almost the entire purchase price. Not only that, they are also paying interest on home loans with no signs of any quick resolutions.

Against defaulting builders, homebuyers have approached various courts as well as the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to secure their investments. For example, Jaypee Infratech Ltd (JIL) went into the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) in August 2017.

In the case of Unitech, the Supreme Court in January 2020 allowed the Centre to take its total management control, once the country’s second-largest realty firm, and appoint a new board of nominee directors.

Yudvir Singh Malik was appointed as the new CMD after the Central government superseded the Unitech board. This decision was aimed to bring respite to over 12,000 hassled homebuyers of Unitech, but the customers are still waiting for the possession of the flats.

In Amrapali, the state-owned National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) has undertaken the completion of many residential projects in Noida and Greater Noida under the aegis of Amrapali Stalled Projects and Investment Reconstruction Establishment (Aspire) and the supervision of the Supreme Court. Around 40,000 homebuyers are stuck in various projects of the Amrapali group.

“There are still huge numbers of pre-Rera era delayed projects which are incomplete. Such projects need to be properly identified and the cause of delay ascertained,” FPCE’s Upadhyay said.

The FPCE president said Rera should take the initiative to ensure that delayed projects are completed at the earliest.