 "Real Estate, Realty sector, Construction, Realty")
The Centre's move to set up a panel to examine issues related to stalled real estate projects and suggest ways for their completion is a step in the right direction, homebuyers' body FPCE said on Tuesday.
The grouping also expressed hope that practical solutions would emerge for benefits of all stakeholders but rued that the panel does not have anyone representative of homebuyers.
The Forum For People's Collective Efforts (FPCE), an umbrella body of homebuyers, had played an important role in enactment and implementation of RERA.
Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has set up a 14-member committee headed by former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant to examine the issues related to stalled real estate projects and recommend ways to complete such projects.
FPCE President Abhay Upadhyay said setting up of the panel is definitely a step in the right direction and a very welcome move to resolve the issues of pre-RERA delayed project.
Also Read
"The credibility, intent, seriousness and effectiveness of the panel would have certainly increased manifold had the most important stakeholder i.e. the homebuyers were also made part of the same since not only they are the ultimate sufferers but also they had on ground experience of the various problems being faced," he said.
Upadhyay said the biggest challenge now is to ensure that the panel finds practical and fair solution for all stakeholders specially for homebuyers, who are stuck with such hugely delayed projects since years and might be even decades now, within shortest possible time.
"... we have seen in the past that committees at the state level have been formed but have failed in finding solution. The step has certainly raised the hope and expectations of the homebuyers and we expect that serious efforts will be made to give relief to suffering homebuyers," Upadhyay, who is also a member of central advisory committee, RERA, said.
According to an order issued by the ministry on March 31, the committee will submit its report within six months from the date of its first meeting.
The 14-member panel will deliberate on the issues of legacy stalled projects and suggest ways to complete and hand over these projects to homebuyers in a time-bound manner, the order said.
The Central Advisory Council chaired by Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had decided to form such a committee about a year ago.
The committee comprises top central and state government officials, including the Secretary in the Department of Financial Services in the Union Ministry of Finance, the Principal Secretary of the Housing and Urban Planning Department of Uttar Pradesh and the Chairperson of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India.
In its meeting held on April 12, 2022, the Central Advisory Council decided to constitute a committee to examine holistically all the issues related to stalled projects and suggest ways to complete them in a time-bound manner.
According to real estate consultant Anarock, about 4.80 lakh units (launched in 2014 or before) - were stuck in various construction stages across these cities at the end of May 2022.
Out of this, Delhi-NCR region had about 2,40,610 stuck/delayed units worth over Rs 1,81,410 crore. The consultant has not updated this figure.
Jaypee Infratech, Unitech, Amrapali and The 3C Company are some of the big real estate developers whose projects are stalled in Delhi-NCR.
Many other builders, too, have defaulted on their promises to deliver their projects on-time to customers, who have already paid almost the entire purchase price.
Homebuyers have approached various courts as well as the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against defaulting builders to secure their investments. Many builders are lodged in jail as well.
In case of Amrapali, the delayed projects are being completed by NBCC under the supervision of Supreme Court.
Recently, Mumbai-based Suraksha Group got approval from NCLT to acquire debt-ridden Jaypee Infratech through an insolvency process and complete around 20,000 flats.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
