DDA takes action against Games Village builders

In its first punitive action against Emaar-MGF, the Dubai-based builder, which developed the Commonwealth Games village, the Delhi Development Authority was allowed to confiscate Rs 183 crore that the company deposited as bank guarantee. Moushumi Das Gupta reports.

In its first punitive action against Emaar-MGF, the Dubai-based builder, which developed the Commonwealth Games village, the Delhi Development Authority was allowed to confiscate Rs 183 crore that the company deposited as bank guarantee.

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"This money would be used to remove the deficiencies in the project and pay off agencies such as the Delhi Jal Board, which provided their services inside the village, but were not paid by the developer," said a source in the urban development ministry, which gave DDA the green singal.

The Games Village is a public-private partnership project between DDA, the landowner, which comes under UD Ministry, and Emaar-MGF.

The DDA also sent notice to Emaar-MGF to deposit Rs 83.70 crore as "liquidation damages" for missing various deadlines related to the project. The authority planned to initiate legal action against the developer, too, to recover other expenditure over and above the bank guarantee.

However, Emaar-MGF said the bank guarantee was extended to December 31, 2010 at DDA's behest. "We have not received any notice for encashment of the guarantee as well. No dues are outstanding to any government agencies including DJB and BSES," it said.

In an interim report submitted on Tuesday to the ministry, the DDA admitted there were various "deficiencies and irregularities" in the project.

On Wednesday, however, the company blamed the DDA for failing to ensure that areas inside the village were not in a presentable condition.