Funds diversion? EOW audit likely for cos that didn’t take rehab deal

Noida: Noida Authority may soon write to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) against the developers who are yet to avail of relief under UP govt's rehabilitation package for stalled residential projects.
Of the 57 projects that had defaulted on land dues, 22 have accepted the rehabilitation package, which offers a two-year zero-period relief — from April 2020 to March 2022 — exempting developers from paying interest and penalties for the period when work was stalled due to the Covid-related lockdown.
Twenty-nine realtors, who are yet to take up the package, cumulatively owe Noida around Rs 6,900 crore in land dues and have over 12,700 flats.
"Builders claim that there are no unsold inventories in their projects. So, where has the amount collected from the homebuyers gone? They have not paid our dues. The Authority will write to the EOW and seek guidance on how to proceed with the case. The EOW will be requested to investigate and conduct a financial audit of the developers and determine how and where they diverted money received from homebuyers. If necessary, an FIR will be filed (against the defaulters)," CEO Lokesh M told TOI.
The decision to write to EOW was taken at a meeting on Tuesday. It comes days after CM Yogi Adityanath directed the three industrial authorities to enforce punitive measures — sealing vacant or unallocated flats and reclaiming unconstructed or vacant areas — outlined in the rehabilitation package against non-compliant developers.
Officials said developers who have deposited 25% of their recalculated dues after receiving relief for zero-period dues but have not completed the proportional number of flat registrations will not be considered for the next round of relief to projects that were affected due to a construction ban imposed by NGT. The Authority is to offer additional relief on a case-by-case basis to projects which were halted due to an NGT order that banned construction within 10 km of the Okhla Bird Sanctuary.
So far, 22 builders have deposited 25% of the total recalculated dues that cumulatively amount to Rs 275.7 crore. The dues for six other builders have been nullified after they were extended zero-period relief. Across these 28 projects, a total of 2,558 homebuyers are now eligible to register their flats — of these, 1,298 registrations have been completed.
While the total dues from the 57 defaulter projects were Rs 8,273 crore, a rebate of Rs 1,866 crore was calculated to be offered to builders on account of the two-year zero period, which was to reduce the dues to Rs 6,373 crore.
With relief under the UP govt package applicable only to 28 projects — their cumulative dues are around Rs 1,375 crore — the total recalculated dues currently stand at Rs 1,020 crore. The 29 builders that have not availed the package are ineligible for rebate, which is to put their dues back to around Rs 6,900 crore. According to officials, 13 of these 29 projects accepted the govt's package for stalled projects but paid a minuscule amount, seven gave consent but did not pay anything, and nine projects never gave any consent.