In less than a year, the number of lapsed or stalled projects in Maharashtra have gone up by around 26 percent. Their number now stands at 5,756, up from 4,555 in March 2022, according to data provided by the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA).
In 1,882 of the stalled projects, 70 percent of the work has been completed.
Against the backdrop of this spike in stalled projects, the MahaRERA has divided 624 of the 1,882 projects in four categories to try and get them back on track.
In a statement, the MahaRERA said the projects had been divided into four groups according to their current status. The first group includes projects that can be completed without compromising the rights of home buyers.
The second group contains those where there is a need to reconcile developers and home buyers. In the third group are projects that require the MahaRERA’s intervention due to certain issues with local authorities or lending banks. And in the fourth category are projects where the developer is missing and the home buyers can complete the project by replacing the developer.
Also read: INDIA'SMOST DELAYED RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS
These projects will be handled by six self-regulatory organisations (SRO) registered with the MahaRERA. The SROs include developers belonging to apex industry bodies like MCHI-CREDAI, NAREDCO, etc.
The SROs will in turn appoint intermediary groups to get the 624 projects on track. These intermediary groups will include architects, financial institutions, developers, housing associations of home buyers, and conciliators.
About 40 percent of the lapsed projects are new ones
Moneycontrol had reported in December 2022 that close to 40 percent of the lapsed projects were registered as "new projects" after MahaRERA was set up in May 2017, according to data accessed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act in Dec 2022.
According to the data provided by MahaRERA, there were a total of 4,555 lapsed projects in Maharashtra as of March 31, 2022. Of these, 2,789 projects were old projects delayed by more than six years. These were registered with MahaRERA as “ongoing projects.” The remaining 1,766 (39 percent) projects were launched after May 2017, and their registrations had also lapsed.
Also read: MC Explainer: Does 40% lapsed projects post creation of MahaRERA indicate failure of regulator?
Further, over 50 percent of the projects registered as 'ongoing' with MahaRERA when the regulator came into being in 2017 were yet to be completed as of September 2022, revealed MahaRERA under the RTI Act.
About 13,246 projects were listed as ‘ongoing’ in 2017, of which 6,557, or about 49.5 percent, had been completed as of September 2022.
A total 36,461 projects, including the ‘ongoing’ ones, have been registered since the inception of MahaRERA. Only about a quarter of these — Of these, only 9,637 — have been completed.
Why the increase in lapsed projects?
According to MahaRERA officials, many of the projects that were registered in 2018, 2019, and 2020 have lapsed, along with several earlier projects.
“For old projects, we know that there are complications due to which their registration has lapsed. However, what is alarming is that several new projects have lapsed. We are checking if the developers are not uploading details on the MahaRERA site post completion of the project,” a senior MahaRERA official said.
The official added, “We suspect that the data is not updated, but we will have to verify this. The reason we are focusing on 624 projects is because they are 70 percent done, and a little push by authorities can ensure their completion.”
Where are these lapsed projects in Maharashtra?
According to MahaRERA, 309 of these 624 lapsed projects are located in the Mumbai Metropolitan region, 220 in Pune, 20 in Nagpur, 29 in Aurangabad, 41 in Nashik, and five in Amravati.
Lapsed projects vertical
On June 22, 2022,speaking at a panel discussion on stalled projects organised by the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) and the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI), MahaRERA Chief Ajoy Mehta said that a vertical dedicated to stalled projects and lapsed projects had been launched. Mehta added that the vertical had been operationalised and that a separate team would be looking after such projects.
Mehta had said that MahaRERA had registered over 36,000 projects in the last five years, worth Rs 8.69 lakh crore. The registrations of about 12 percent (4,555) of these projects have lapsed, worth about Rs 78,000 crore.
Also read: MahaRERA issues notices to 19,000 real estate projects in 20 days over non-compliance
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
Find the best of Al News in one place, specially curated for you every weekend.
Stay on top of the latest tech trends and biggest startup news.
