State-owned construction company NBCC has said that around Rs 500 crore is available with it to complete pending Amrapali projects and that construction of 17 projects across Noida and Greater Noida is currently ongoing.
The development comes shortly after the Supreme Court resolved the issue of funding for the stuck Amrapali projects. On August 31, SBICap Ventures, which manages the government-sponsored Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH) fund, agreed to finance six projects with approximately Rs 625 crore.
The six projects that the SWAMIH Investment Fund agreed to fund are Silicon City 1 and 2, Crystal Homes, Centurion Park–Low Rise, O2 Valley and Tropical Garden. The amount would cover a total of 6,973 units. The apex court had also directed the court-appointed receiver to finalise the legal framework to regulate the funding of Rs 625 crore and submit a report within four weeks.
Enough funding for 2-3 months: NBCC chief
“Construction work on 17 Amrapali projects is currently on. Two projects have already been handed over. Currently, Rs 500 crore in all is available, including the Rs 325 crore already paid to NBCC and more money is expected to come,” NBCC CMD PK Gupta told Moneycontrol.
“We have sufficient money for the next two to three months. We have an entire Rs 8,000 crore to be generated and the complete project is expected to take around three years to complete,” he said
Read More: Amrapali case: SC directs SBICap to fund Rs 625 crore for six projects
Asked if the amount was enough, Gupta said that the rest of the money is also coming through. “Around 50 percent of the amount is to be paid by homebuyers and they have already started to pay up. The Supreme Court has also fixed the instalments for all the projects and timelines. Banks have been directed to provide loans to NPA account homebuyers; part of the money has to come from unsold inventory and from the sale of Floor Area Ratio. All these steps will ensure that the pace of construction will pick up,” he said.
Only two projects have not been granted clearance. “We are hoping that this clearance will also come through,” he said.
As for the pace of construction, Gupta said: “We may reach the pre-Covid level by October. Currently, around 8,000 workers have been deployed on these projects and this may double in the next two months. Work was badly affected by Covid-19 but it is now progressing well,” he said.
Work in progress
Work on 30,000 units is currently in progress across 17 Amrapali projects. As many as 167 units are expected to be handed over this month.
“The plan to hand over 167 units this month is on track,” he told Moneycontrol.
Work on 14,000 Amrapali units in progress; handover of 160 units in September, says NBCC
Work on 16,000 units in Greater Noida commenced on August 24 following a bhoomi poojan ceremony in the presence of Supreme Court-appointed court receiver and senior advocate R Venkataramani, who has been entrusted with the task of managing the affairs of the Amrapali Group.
Work was in progress earlier on eight projects in Noida, involving 11,741 units in Silicon-1 and 2, Silicon-Crystal Homes, Sapphire I and II, Princely, Platinum/Titanium and Zodiac, and three projects involving 2,666 units in Greater Noida, namely Centurion Park-Low rise and O2 Valley, Leisure Valley Villas and Dream Valley Villas.
NBCC has been directed by the Supreme Court to complete more than 46,000 homes.
Homebuyers to pay up dues
In its order on July 10, the apex court had directed homebuyers to pay up in accordance with the funds required by NBCC. More than 40,000 buyers have been directed to pay pending amounts according to a schedule drawn up by NBCC.
The stuck projects have been divided into three categories by the government’s construction arm.
NBCC hopes to generate Rs 3,800 crore from the outstanding amount payable by homebuyers in the next three years and plans to deliver all the flats by February 2023 if cash flow is maintained and the homebuyers pay their dues. The state-owned corporation is involved in the completion of 23 Amrapali Developers housing projects.
The estimated cost of completion of all the Amrapali projects is about Rs 8,400 crore.
Last year, on July 23, the apex court had cracked the whip on errant builders for breaching the trust reposed by homebuyers and ordered cancellation of the registration of the Amrapali Group under real estate law RERA. Amrapali was also ousted from its prime properties in the NCR by nixing land leases.
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!
