Noida: Homebuyers to get relief in Lotus Boulevard housing project

The project has eight towers with 606 flats but two towers with 168 flats and 46 unregistered flats from earlier towers are still pending

Two hundred homebuyers in the stalled Lotus Boulevard Espacia project in Noida Sector 100 can now get home registry as the developer Cloud 9 Projects has paid ₹21 crore land cost dues under a state policy in which realty firms can get interest waivers if they pay 25% of total dues upfront.

Lotus Boulevard Espacia in Noida Sector 100. (HT Archive)

The housing project was built on 10 acres of land, and the lease deed was signed in June 2009. It was supposed to be completed by June 2016 but got delayed due to non-payment of dues and legal issues. The project has eight towers with 606 flats. In March 2016, five towers (366 flats) got partial occupancy, and 320 flats have been registered. But two towers with 168 flats, and 46 unregistered flats from earlier towers, are still pending — affecting 214 homebuyers.

“We have paid ₹21 crore under the scheme, and also applied again for occupancy certificate before the Noida authority. The Noida authority visited the Lotus Espacia project site on Monday, and are processing our application. Once the OC is issued, homebuyer registries will start taking place,” said Ashish Gupta, director, Cloud Nine.

“The Uttar Pradesh government’s policy for stalled housing projects was announced on December 21, 2023, and it had a condition that if a National Company Law Tribunal or any other court case can be settled between the realtor and the petitioner then the stalled project can become eligible for the benefits of this scheme. So, the Noida authority board has allowed this project to take the benefit as per the norms of the state government policy,” said Lokesh M, chief executive officer of the Noida authority.

Cloud 9 Projects private limited was facing a corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) after orders from the National Company Law Tribunal. This project can become eligible for interest waivers under the state government’s scheme meant for stalled legacy housing projects if the realty firm settled NCLT’s CIRP, said Noida authority officials.

The Noida authority, in its board meeting on June 14, said the project will be considered for inclusion under the policy only after all court cases are resolved.

A big relief came on February 29, 2024, when the Allahabad high court directed Noida authority to issue occupancy certificates and allow registries of flats without waiting for the builder to pay all dues. The court also ordered the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to investigate the company’s directors for alleged misuse of buyers’ money. The court also allowed Noida to recover some dues from unsold flats. The developer was not available for comment on the issue.

After this order, new cases were filed and the Noida authority filed a review petition, which was rejected in May 2024, and then filed a petition in the Supreme Court, which is still pending. Meanwhile, the homebuyers’ group filed a contempt case against the chief executive officer of Noida authority for not following the high court order.

At the same time, one of the directors went to the Supreme Court against the high court’s order. On October 1, 2024, the apex court put a stay on ED action and the next hearing will be held in July.

In another case, IndusInd Bank filed an insolvency case in NCLT in 2022. However, Cloud 9 told Noida that no bankruptcy process has started, and they are trying to settle the matter with the bank.

Cloud 9 told the Noida authority that it never refused to pay dues but only objected to personal liability.

“It has paid ₹21.21 crore out of the total ₹84.86 crore and plans to clear the rest once final calculations are done,” said a Noida authority official aware of the development.