After two days of hectic meetings with home buyers and developers, the committee of three ministers, appointed by the Uttar Pradesh cabinet, today presented its action plan. The panel said that the co-developers will be brought in to complete the delayed projects and assured home buyers stuck in Amrapali and Jaypee projects not to pay any outstanding amount until flats are completed. It said Unitech’s proposal to surrender its lands is being considered.
Urban housing minister Suresh Khanna, Industries minister Satish Mahana and state minister (independent charge) of cane development and sugar mills Suresh Rana are the members of the committee that have been holding meetings with hundreds of home buyers that have invested their hard-earned money with builders such as Amrapali, Jaypee, Unitech among others in Noida, Greater Noida, Yamuna Expressway and Ghaziabad.
The three-member panel had been formed on the directions of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to address issues being faced by home buyers.
Presenting the action plan in Greater Noida today, Khanna gave Amrapali Group one month time to begin construction and two years to complete the projects. “As many as 99 percent home buyers have asked for delivery of their units and keeping that in mind, some solutions have been arrived at. Homebuyers will not have to pay any amount to the builder until projects are completed but they will have to pay up the amount before the registration process begins,” said Khanna.
He said that the committee has requested Amrapali home buyers, who are protesting in front of the Amrapali office for almost a fortnight, to end their ‘dharna.’
“The same condition of no money until completion applies to Jaypee home buyers as well. The builder will deliver 600 flats per month starting November 2017,” he said.
Builders can get in co-developers to complete the unfinished projects, Khanna said, adding Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI), an apex body of private real estate developers, has offered its support to be part of the resolution process concerning unfinished apartments by Amrapali Group.
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Details will be given during the next committee meeting to be held on September 14 to September 15.
“Unitech has proposed that it will surrender its lands and we are looking at the legal aspects of this proposal,” said Khanna
Home buyers hopeful but want more confidence building measures
Some home buyers said that they are happy with the “action plan” put forth by the UP government committee while others said that more confidence building measures need to be in place.
“With this action plan, we are hopeful that a solution will emerge. If a developer takes over the projects and completes it, it is a good move as we only want our flats at the end of the day,” said Sumit Aggarwal, a home buyer who has invested in an Amrapali project.
“At least there is some movement in the right direction,” said Indrish Gupta, co-founder, Noida Extension Flat Owners Welfare Association, adding “bringing on board a government agency such as NBCC to complete these projects would have been perfect but the fact private developers could be brought in to complete these tasks does offer us hope.”
“We still want that a government official should be involved in the day-to-day supervision of these projects,” he added.
Some buyers said that there is a need for more confidence building measures on the part of the developers. “They should open an escrow account for each of the projects that have to be completed. The amount required to complete the projects must be mentioned and put up on the company’s website,” said SK Nagrath, president Jaypee Aman buyers' welfare association, adding “we are not convinced about the roadmap yet because of the track record of the developer. If the developer puts up all the details on the website, credibility can be restored.”
Developers offer support
“Credai has come forward to resolve the difficult situation of stalled deliveries of a few larger developers. The image of the entire industry is suffering because of this situation. We have given our suggestions to the Group of Ministers. Once a viable structure for appointing co-developers in stalled projects is found, we shall be circulating the list of available projects amongst our members. We hope the situation gets resolved. However, Credai’s role is that of a facilitator, not that of a developer or a guarantor to the completion,” said Pankaj Bajaj, president Credai-NCR and MD of Eldeco.
Also read: Credai offers to take over unfinished projects of Amrapali Group
The Uttar Pradesh government is trying to arrive at a solution for thousands of homebuyers, who have failed to get their homes even after eight years. Some builders have stopped construction at several sites citing the paucity of funds.
The meetings come at a time when the National Company Law Tribunal has admitted insolvency pleas from banks against Jaypee Infratech and Amrapali Group’s firms which have projects in Noida.
NCLT admitted IDBI Bank’s plea for initiating insolvency proceedings against Jaypee Infratech for defaulting on a Rs 526-crore loan earlier this month. NCLT appointed insolvency professional Anuj Jain as the CEO of Jaypee Infratech. He has been given six months to revive the company. This period is extendable by another three months. About 40,000 buyers are stuck in projects floated by Jaypee Infra.
vandana.ramnani@nw18.com
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