Uttar Pradesh government extends two-year zero-period benefit to 15 builders, ET RealEstate
NOIDA: UP has extended a second two-year zero-period benefit to 15 real estate developers for the phase between 2013 and 2015, when construction was halted within a 10km radius of Okhla Bird Sanctuary (OBS) because of a ban imposed by NGT while demarcation of the wetland’s eco-sensitive zone was on.
The waiver is among the several recommendations proposed by a UP govt panel, led by former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, to address stalled real estate projects in Noida. The first zero period, rolled out in Dec 2023 to projects where construction was stalled due to Covid pandemic, reduced Noida Authority’s overall dues by from Rs 8,234 crore to Rs 1,865 crore as 27 developers, who adopted the relief package, cumulatively cleared Rs 502 crore dues and another 14 made partial payments totalling Rs 32 crore.
The second waiver is expected to further reduce Noida Authority’s dues by Rs 182 crore. Under it, govt will waive off interest and penal interest imposed on builders for the period during which their projects were stalled.
The benefits are to ultimately trickle down to homebuyers as it is expected to speed up housing projects and registration of flats that have been stuck for years. Builders are also likely to pass on the interest benefit for the zero period to buyers.
After the second round of relief, the dues of three developers—Laureate Buildwell, HR Oracle and AIMS RG Angel Promoters—will be completely waived from Rs 81 lakh, Rs 51 lakh, and Rs 4 crore, respectively. Prateek Buildtech’s dues will also come down to Rs 26 crore. After the first round of exemption, the builder still had to pay Noida Authority a premium of Rs 48 crore.
After a Rs 15-crore relief, AIMS Promoters’ dues stand at Rs 38 crore. Skytech Construction, which got a Rs 10 crore relief, has to pay the Authority Rs 12 crore now, while SDS Infratech’s dues were revised to Rs 50 crore after it got a Rs 25-crore relief. ATS Township cornered a relief of Rs 35 crore. Its revised dues is now Rs 9.6 crore. Noida Authority clarified that any prior NGT-related zero-period benefits were adjusted against the current two-year waiver. So, two eligible developers did not receive additional relief.
Civitech Developers, which has already cleared its dues, was granted permission to execute lease deeds for 27 pending flats, but did not benefit financially from the zero-period waiver. Sunworld Developers, which received the zero-period benefit earlier too and was also scrutinised for the second round, did not qualify for any further relief.
Of the 57 projects that defaulted on land dues, six saw their dues reduced to zero after the first round of zero-period waiver. Twenty-seven developers who accepted the rehabilitation package and paid 25% of their recalculated dues were eligible for the second zero period, but not all of them were affected by the NGT’s construction ban. After a review, the Authority found 15 projects eligible for the waiver.
For the second round of waivers, each project was scrutinised individually to determine the status of construction at the time and whether occupancy certificate (OCs) applications were submitted. Any previous zero-period benefits granted due to NGT restrictions were adjusted off. The NGT initially imposed the ban on Aug 14, 2013, restricting construction activity within a 10km radius of the OBS. By Oct that year, these restrictions were tightened, preventing OCs from being issued without environmental clearance. Centre later reduced the eco-sensitive zone around OBS to 100 metres on Aug 19, 2015, effectively lifting the restrictions.
