Noida buyers welcome SC order to Amrapali seeking delivery plan

Amrapali Group, a realty major, needs to deliver 40,000 flats in 10 housing projects in Noida and Greater Noida.

Homebuyers in Amrapali Group’s projects welcomed the Supreme Court’s order directing the developer to submit a detailed plan for the delivery of around 40,000 flats in its stuck housing projects located in Noida and Greater Noida.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on September 6, 2017, had accepted Bank of Baroda’s insolvency plea against Amrapali Silicon City. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT FILE)

The court was hearing a plea filed by homebuyers on Wednesday.

Amrapali Group, a realty major, needs to deliver 40,000 flats in 10 housing projects in Noida and Greater Noida. The company cited a dip in sales amid the slowdown in the realty sector for the delay in delivery of the unfinished projects.

“The Supreme Court’s (SC) response to our pleas has ignited hope among us. Now, we hope that due to the fear of the SC, Amrapali can seriously work on its delivery schedule unlike in the past, when it kept making hollow promises. We have demanded through our petition that an SC-appointed committee monitors the construction and ensures a timebound delivery of remaining housing projects,” Abhishek Kumar, president of Noida Extension Flat Owners’ Welfare Association (NEFOWA), a buyers’ group who had filed a petition on behalf of buyers, said.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on September 6, 2017, had accepted Bank of Baroda’s insolvency plea against Amrapali Silicon City — one of their 10 housing projects in Noida and Greater Noida — in Sector 76, Noida.

The bank had initiated the process over an outstanding loan of Rs56 crore. The move caused panic among homebuyers as, according to them, their investment would not be protected under insolvency and bankruptcy code because NCLT gives preference to financial creditors (banks) before buyers.

On September 2017, a group of homebuyers from Noida had also filed a plea in SC seeking protection of their investment. In January, buyers in five other stuck housing projects in Greater Noida also filed pleas. The SC clubbed all pleas together and on Wednesday, directed the builder to file replies.

“Amrapali had launched its housing projects in 2009-10 and until now, it failed to finish all of these projects because it diverted the funds collected from homebuyers. But now, we hope that the Amrapali Group will have to tell the court where have the funds gone,” Satish Kumar, a homebuyer, said.

Amrapali Group said that it will deliver projects with the help of a co-developer.

“We have already submitted our detailed resolution plan, detailing how we will deliver all our projects. We have roped in a world-class developer who is ready to invest funds to finish stuck projects. Buyers should have trust in us we will deliver all our projects,” Shiv Priya, director of Amrapali Group, said.