We'll look out for you: Noida Authority CEO to Jaypee homebuyers

NOIDA: The Noida Authority on Friday asked home buyers in the Jaypee Infratech projects not to panic in the wake of the National Company Law Tribunal admitting an insolvency petition filed by IDBI Bank against the debt ridden real estate company.Noida CEO Amit Mohan Prasad said they would soon come up with a plan to secure the interests of over 32,000 homebuyers in the Jaypee Wish Town project. "We will not allow their hard earned money to go down the drain. We will take the strictest action against the developer in case it flouts norms," he told TOI.

Jaypee had in April this year promised to deliver all apartments in its mega housing project in Noida, Wish Town, by 2020. So far, possession has been given only to 6,500 home buyers. Wish Town has 32,000 flats.

On Friday, scores of Jaypee investors gathered outside the company's corporate office at Noida Sector 128 to voice their concern about the impact of insolvency proceedings on their investments. The buyers met officials at Jaypee's corporate office and inquired about their projects. The office, they said, informed them that pending houses would be delivered on time, as per schedule, by Jaypee Infratech.

The investors, however, announced a protest march from Jaypee's Sector 128 office to the Noida police chief 's office at 9.30am on Saturday. "The worry is that if the company is listed as insolvent, all our court cases against the builder have the chance of becoming ineffective. We will also ask the police chief what happened to the FIRs filed against the builder in April. Has any investigation been done?" Wish Town flat buyer Pramod Kumar said.

"We want to know what happened to the money the buyers paid up. If the company is being tried for insolvency, what happens to our money? There has to be an investigation into this," Sambhu Sharma, another buyer, said. SK Suri, who has booked a house in Kensington Boulevard, added, "I have invested Rs 1 crore in Wish Town. I am a retired person and now chasing this case every day. Who will assure us of what will happen to our investments?" Repeated calls made to Jaypee top management went unanswered. Jaiprakash Associates, Jaypee Group's holding company, owns around 2,200 acres in Yamuna Sports City on Yamuna expressway close to Noida. Of this, around 500 acres have been used to develop the F1 racing circuit. It has launched a township on around 300 acres and sold 250 acres to Axis Bank. Of the rest, the group is planning to sell around 1,000 acres to banks.

Jaypee Infratech has 6,100 acres in five parcels of around 1,200 acres each. On Yamuna expressway, it has two land parcels near the FI circuit. Of a land parcel next to the e-way, the company has already sold around 300 acres. It has also sold around 300 acres from a land parcel adjacent to Sports City. Now, the company is planning to sell around 1,200 acres of unused land to banks to reduce its debt.

(With inputs from Prabhakar Sinha)