Thirty-five per cent of India's stalled residential projects having 1.65 lakh flats worth a total of Rs 1.18 lakh crore are in Uttar Pradesh's Noida and Greater Noida, according to a white paper released.
Besides, there are at least one lakh individuals who are still waiting to register their flats while nearly 60,000 others are yet to be handed flats long after their possession date, stated the white paper, issued by citizens' platform Noida Dialogue and private body Namo Seva Kendra.
Their analysis figures out that projects which comprise around 1.65 lakh units are yet to be completed fully and their combined value is worth as high as Rs 1.18 lakh crore. Our analysis on Uttar Pradesh's RERA report indicates that more than 50 per cent such projects are stalled for more than three years over the proposed completion time. As many as 27,992 complaints from homebuyers have been registered on the UP RERA portal, recording the highest in the country as of 2020, it added.
The white paper further said that as per the report at present, there are at least one lakh individuals who are still waiting to register their flats while nearly 60,000 others are yet to be handed flats long after their possession date.
These buyers have a twin financial burden on their shoulders, continue paying EMIs for their incomplete flats and bear the hefty rent of their houses where they stay at the moment, it noted.
The white paper, which has sourced information from public and private entities and feedback from homebuyers, seeks to identify the problem, the root cause for it, cites legal case studies and their judgments and suggests possible way forward to mitigate the woes of homebuyers.
The whole resolution process has to be ring fenced from any potential legal challenges. The stalled projects will first have to be made viable for future investors for any acceptable resolution bid. The main problem lies in the legacy issue of allotment of land on lease by authorities to the developers on instalment payment, levying compound interest and hefty penalties for default thereof, it stated.
The overleveraged developers, supported by multiple financing options on single piece of land, compounded the problem. The unholy nexus of previous governments in power can now be undone through haircuts alone. The above recommended solutions have to be implemented by the government with political will, it added.
