Bank Consortium Informs SC Of Rs 300 cr Infusion For Completion Of Stalled Amrapali Projects

In a boost to the construction of stalled projects of Amrapali, the Supreme Court was on Monday informed that Bank of Baroda which is leading a 6-bank consortium, has infused Rs 300 crore. A bench of Justices U U Lalit and Bela M Trivedi directed the other banks of the consortium to release the balance amount of Rs 1,200 crore before the next date of hearing, March 14. At the outset, the bench was informed by senior advocate N Venkataramani, who has been appointed as court receiver, that Bank of Baroda has infused Rs 300 crore while other five banks of the consortium are in process of releasing the funds. The Counsel appearing for the consortium said the banks are in final stages of releasing the funds and assured that they would soon get the approval.

Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC), said they are doing structural audit of under-construction projects of Amrapali through two agencies VNIT Nagpur and NIT Jalandhar. He said the company is required to work without any interference from the home buyers and their association, as it would delay the execution of the stalled project. The bench agreed with the submission and said that home buyers should not create any trouble. On February 21, the NBCC assured the top court that the construction of stalled projects of Amrapali Group will be of good quality and independent experts will assess the safety and quality standards. The assurance was given by the NBCC to the court after some Amrapali home buyers voiced their concern in the wake of poor quality work at a housing project in Gurugram, where residents have been asked to vacate the building. The home buyers, through advocate M L Lahoty, sought the court’s intervention in ensuring quality control of the work undertaken by NBCC in the Amrapali projects. Dave had said that the company was committed to maintaining the quality of work undertaken by it and the controversy over the Gurugram project should not be linked with Amrapali projects.

The NBCC had earlier told the top court that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, it was making all efforts towards the successful completion of various projects of the Amrapali Group situated in Noida and Greater Noida. It had said that at present, 10 projects in Noida and 12 projects in Greater Noida are under execution involving 45,957 units with a sanctioned project cost of Rs 8,025.78 crore. The apex court in its July 23, 2019, verdict had cracked the whip on errant builders for breaching the trust reposed by home buyers and ordered the cancellation of the registration of the Amrapali Group under real estate law RERA, and ousted it from prime properties in the NCR by nixing the land leases. Former group directors of Amrapali-- Anil Kumar Sharma, Shiv Priya and Ajay Kumar are in prison on the top court's order. The court had directed a probe by the Enforcement Directorate into alleged money laundering by realtors, providing relief to over 42,000 home buyers of Amrapali Group with the verdict. The top court, which is trying to bring in funds for the stalled projects, had then directed the state-run NBCC to complete the stalled projects of the Amrapali Group.

PTI Inputs