NBCC to soon float tenders for contractors to complete Amrapali Group projects

NBCC CMD Anoop Kumar Mittal has said that the company will be floating tenders to appoint contractors for completion of construction projects of embattled real estate firm Amrapali, within the next 15 days.

Speaking to reporters on October 4, Mittal denied having received any offer from Piramal Group to raise Rs 1,000 crore. "No, we do not have any such offer," he said.

On initial funding for the projects, he said that we will wait for the Supreme Court's directions. Asked whether the government’s construction arm will undertake construction work for other incomplete or stalled projects in Uttar Pradesh, Mittal noted, "We have been given the mandate to take over only Amrapali projects right now, can’t say anything about the other projects."

The committee that has been set up to look into stalled housing projects in UP, had recently submitted its report to the state government. NBCC was given the mandate to prescribe recommendations/solutions as to how 3,00,000 homebuyers could get their homes on time.

"The committee has given its suggestions and said that developers would have to complete construction within three years. It is now up to the UP government to take a decision on it. As far as NBCC involvement is concerned, NBCC has been asked to study a few projects and Noida Authority will be identifying these projects for us. Only then we will be able to take a decision on which projects we will be undertaking," Mittal said.

He stressed that there was no scope of reducing its commission charged as project management consultant, and claimed that it was not as high as other project management consultants. "Besides fees, the company is also using its branding, taking risks. Compared to private co-developers fees, NBCC fees are much less," he claimed.

The company expects construction work for stalled projects to begin in December, with the first set comprising over 11,000 apartments. NBCC has divided units in Amrapali's projects into three categories. The first comprises 11,400 apartments in category A, which is expected to be completed within 6-12 months; the second has 32,384 units to be constructed under category B, and 2,788 units to be completed under category C.

NBCC had earlier informed the SC that it can complete 15 stalled projects with 46,575 flats within 36 months at a cost of Rs 8,500 crore.

The court gave permission to NBCC to float tenders for selecting builders to complete unfinished projects by October 3.

South Delhi redevelopment project

When asked about the seven redevelopment projects in South Delhi, which have been on hold for the last three months over felling of trees, he said the company would abide by the court's direction and follow all government regulations.

He continued that at present it was not possible to put a figure on the losses incurred due to construction being stalled. "If work starts in these seven projects, of which three are tasked with NBCC and four with CPWD, it will be good," Mittal said.

On October 3, the Delhi High Court appeared inclined to permit redevelopment of six South Delhi colonies, including Sarojini Nagar and Nauroji Nagar, if the projects get all the requisite approvals.

The court reserved its order after hearing arguments on behalf of all stakeholders, including the Environment Ministry, residents of the area and NBCC, regarding redevelopment of six colonies of Sarojini Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Thyagaraja Nagar, Kasturba Nagar, Mohammadpur and Srinivaspuri.

It would separately consider the redevelopment of the seventh colony -- Nauroji Nagar -- at a later date.

Air India properties

Mittal said that NBCC had started design work for Air India properties located in South Delhi's Vasant Vihar and Central Delhi's Connaught Place.

"It is in the designing stage. In Vasant Vihar we have 30 acres of land and 3.2 acres of land in Connaught Place’s Baba Kharak Singh Marg. In the next three to four months after approvals of statutory bodies we will be in a position to start the project. These will be sold to private entities. These will be both residential and commercial. Initial amount will be spent by us and we will then be generating funds by selling these units," Mittal pointed out.

Sick PSU land

Under the Affordable Housing for All by 2022 scheme, NBCC plans to develop 1,00,000 affordable housing units on the land of sick public sector undertakings across the country. It is working as a land management agency for 10 CPSEs and has identified one or two land parcels to identify affordable housing.

"DPR is getting ready for two/three PSU sites for PMAY projects. It is taking time because land is very old and fraught with too many issues. Hopeful that in the next two months at least one odd project will be approved," he said.

Order book stands at Rs 80,000 crore

Mittal said that NBCC’s current order book stands at around Rs 80,000 crore and that the target is to achieve Rs 1 lakh crore by the end of the financial year.

He added, the company expects to grow at a CAGR of 30-40 percent in topline as well as bottomline in the coming years. The company's total income stood at around Rs 7,100 crore last fiscal.

Besides projects in 10 African countries, it is constructing the Indian Pavilion for Expo 2020 in Dubai at a cost of Rs 400-500 crore. The company is also focusing on constructing institutional projects.

It has bagged a project consultancy contract to develop permanent campus of IIM Ranchi at a cost of Rs 400 crore.

In a filing to BSE, NBCC said it has "received a Letter of Award (LoA) of work from IIM Ranchi to provide project management consultancy for development of permanent campus (Phase-1 works) amounting Rs 400 crore (approx)".