Noida: Homebuyers, Amrapali executives inspect stuck projects
The Supreme Court on March 15 had directed the realty firm — Amrapali Group — and homebuyers in its projects to meet and reach an agreement on the status of its housing projects that could not be delivered on time.
A team of homebuyers and representatives of the Amrapali Group on Sunday started a joint inspection of stuck housing projects in Noida and Greater Noida.
The Supreme Court on March 15 had directed the realty firm — Amrapali Group — and homebuyers in its projects to meet and reach an agreement on the status of its housing projects that could not be delivered on time.
A bench of justice Arun Mishra and justice UU Lalit had ordered on Friday for a meeting to be held on March 17 at 11am at the Supreme Court consultation room between the two parties. A joint statement on the outcome of the meeting is to be filed before the court on the next hearing, scheduled for March 27.
“Following the Supreme Court’s order, we started our joint inspection along with the builder’s representative at Golf Homes housing project and Centurion Park in Greater Noida in the morning. The inspection continued for the whole day. Buyers of respective housing projects participated in the inspection because we need to file a status report in the court on the next hearing,” Abhishek Kumar, the president of Noida Extension Flat Owners’ Welfare Association (NEFOWA).
Amrapali Group needs to deliver around 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 projects.
Last year, Bank of Baroda had filed an insolvency petition before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) after Amrapali had failed to repay a loan of Rs56 crore. The move caused panic among homebuyers as, according to them, their investment would not be protected under the insolvency and bankruptcy code as the NCLT would give preference to banks before buyers.
In September 2017, a group of homebuyers from Noida filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking protection of their investment. In January, buyers in five other stuck housing projects in Greater Noida also filed similar pleas. The apex court clubbed all the pleas and began the hearing.
“We checked the towers that are yet to be finished in Centurion Park in Greater Noida west (Noida Extension) with the builder. Similarly, buyers and the builders’ team also checked the Zodiac project in Sector 119 and Eden Park in Sector 78 of Noida,” Jai Prakash Gupta, a buyer, said.
“The court ordered for a joint inspection after buyers started doubting the builders’ delivery proposal. Now, the court wants to know which towers are nearing completion, which towers need internal work and which towers’ civil work is complete,” Kumar Mihir, advocate for the homebuyers, said.
Homebuyers have shifted into Amrapali Group’s partially ready projects — Zodiac, Sapphire, Silicon City, Platinum and Princely Estate. The builder needs to clear land dues and finish internal work, such as setting up firefighting equipment, club, parking, park and boundary wall.
At five projects in Greater Noida, around 50% of construction is pending. Projects of Amrapali Group in Indore, Kochi and Bhilai will also be inspected soon.
“We are inspecting a total of 15 stuck housing projects, as per the court order. Ten projects are in Noida and Greater Noida, while five projects are in other cities. The Supreme Court wants to know the status of projects and ensure that flats are delivered to buyers. We will deliver flats to buyers as we have taken adequate steps in this regard. We will finish inspection by Thursday,” Shiv Priya, director Amrapali Group, said.
Amrapali Group has delegated around 50 employees to conduct the inspection with buyers.
