by THO
The government’s construction arm NBCC said on February 22 that it will be developing 13,250 premium apartments in five ongoing projects of Amrapali in Greater Noida where it has received approval from Greater Noida Authority to develop unused and purchasable floor area ratio (FAR) worth ₹10,000 crore.
NBCC expects ₹15,000 crore worth revenue from these additional 13,250 flats that it will develop on the 75 acres made available to it following approval of FAR by Greater Noida Authority. Construction of these units is likely to begin in June or July this year. These would primarily be 2, 3 and 4 BHK premium apartments. The amount will enable the company to meet the cost of construction of the pending projects, repay bank debts and clear statutory payments to local development authorities, NBCC CMD K P Mahadevaswamy told reporters.
“As per our estimates, we will be able to develop 13,250 apartments on these unused land parcels across 80 residential towers,” he said.
NBCC has to repay loans worth ₹1500 crore to banks (principal and interest) and ₹3000 crore to GNIDA, as per estimates.
“These would be premium apartments that are likely to be priced at around ₹6000 per sq ft. It will take 30 months to complete these apartments,” he said.
The Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority has given permission for development on 75 acres of unused land in five existing residential projects of Amrapali, the company said.
In 2019, NBCC was tasked by the Supreme Court to complete around 38,000 flats across various Amrapali projects, mainly in Noida and Greater Noida, at a project cost of ₹8,266 crore. A loan of ₹1,500 crore has been taken from a consortium of banks.
“The company has so far completed 16,000 flats and handed them over to customers. Registries of 7000 flats have been completed and some are ongoing. We will complete 21,000 units by December this year and the remaining 1,000 units by March 2025,” Mahadevaswamy said.
The Greater Noida Authority will be paid nearly ₹600 crore for allowing this new floor-area ratio (FAR) in these existing projects, he said.
R Venkataramani, Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court, who was appointed as the Court Receiver and who is currently Attorney General of India, told reporters at the press conference that the task to ‘clean’ the ‘sin’, ‘untie the knots+’, was extremely challenging. “It was important to instill confidence among homebuyers as well as banks for fresh funding,” he said.
“We consulted homebuyers in a big way. This gave them confidence,” Venkataramani said.
He also stressed that there is a need for innovative and path-breaking solutions to address the issues confronting the Indian real estate sector.
The five projects include Centurian Park, GH-05, Sector Tech Zone-IV, Greater Noida 2; Golf Homes, GH-02, Sector-4, Greater Noida; Leisure Park, GH-01, Tech Zone-IV, Greater Noida; Leisure Valley, GH-02, Tech Zone-IV, Greater Noida and Dream Valley, GH-09, Tech Zone-IV, Greater Noida, NBCC said in a statement.
The company has been granted an in-principle approval by the Greater Noida Authority for a 3.5 Floor Area Ratio (FAR). Collectively, these projects span a total plot area of 305.59 acres, with 75.24 acres of vacant plot area now earmarked for development, the company said.
The FAR development is set to encompass close to 1.6 crore sq ft, offers a variety of unit types including 4BHK, 3BHK, and 2BHK units. The number of units per floor will vary, ranging from 4 to 8, with a total of 80 towers planned in these 5 projects. The built-up area is projected to reach around 2.23 crore sq ft excluding the basement, the company said.
In 2019, NBCC Ltd, the government-owned construction company, was tasked by the Supreme Court to complete 26 stalled Amrapali projects that include 38,500 housing units. NBCC was appointed as project management consultant (PMC) that year and Amrapali Stalled Projects Investments Reconstruction Establishment (ASPIRE) was floated to complete the stuck projects of Amrapali under the supervision of the Supreme Court-appointed court receiver.
In March 2023, the Supreme Court had asked NBCC to submit a proposal on unused Floor Area Ratio which is the ratio between a building’s total constructed floor area and the land area. Sources said that this additional FAR would allow NBCC to construct new dwellings on the unused land in the five projects, sell them and utilize the proceeds to pay off the embattled firm’s pending dues.
In December 2023, the company had announced sales of 5,000 units for ₹2,900 crore across several residential projects of the erstwhile Amrapali Group.
NBCC had said in December that there are 26 projects in total with 11 projects in Noida, 14 projects in Greater Noida and one project in Manesar. NBCC had said then that it has completed 11 projects in Noida and Greater Noida, while 14 projects are under execution. One commercial project in Greater Noida Tech Park is yet to be started.
