New Delhi: After the real estate firm Supertech lost Rs 500 crore due to the demolition of its twin towers in Noida, the company is now eying to build a new housing project at the same place and it will seek a refund of land cost and other expenses if authorities do not approve the plan, chairman R K Arora said.
The nearly 100-metre-tall twin towers, Apex and Ceyane, were razed to the ground at 2.30 pm on August 28 according to the Supreme Court order that found their construction within Emerald Court premises in violation of norms. More than 3,700 kg of explosives were used in this operation.
What’s the plan of action?
The chairman said once the debris gets cleared from the site, the company will submit a proposal before the Noida development authority for building a housing project and also take consent of RWA of Emerald Court if needed, as reported by news agency PTI.
"We were allotted 14 acre of land by Noida authority in Noida Sector 93 A for the development of the group housing project. Out of the total land parcel, the twin towers were built on 2 acre land," he mentioned.
He said as the twin towers have been demolished now, the company will submit a plan to develop a group housing project on the 2 acre land owned by the company. On asked about the chances of getting the approval, Arora said the company would definitely put up a plan, and then it is up to the authority. "We will also take consent of RWA of Emerald Court if required," he added, as quoted by PTI.
Responding to the RWA's plan to build temple on the land, Arora said: "The RWA should own the land to develop anything. Land is owned by us." The chairman said the 2-acre land does not fall under green area.
He clearly stated that in case permission to develop a housing project is not granted, the company will seek a refund of land cost from the authority. "The land cost at the present rate should be around Rs 80 crore. We had also paid around Rs 25 crore for the purchase of extra FAR (floor area ratio) in this project," Arora said.
Demolition a setback, but reiterates company developed twin towers as approved
Arora once again reiterated his stance when asked about the damage to the Supertech brand from the demolition saying it’s definitely a setback, but the company had developed the twin towers as the building plan approved by the Noida authority and no deviations were made.
On difficulty in raising funds and in sales, Arora stated the company has been convincing its customers as well as financial institutions that the demolition would not impact its other projects.
"We have completed and given delivery of more than 70,000 units to homebuyers since inception and are committed to giving delivery to remaining 20,000 homebuyers over the next two years," Arora said.
On the day of demolition, Arora had informed that the company incurred a loss of about Rs 500 crore, including construction and interest costs, because of the demolition.
"Our overall loss is around Rs 500 crore, taking into account the amount we have spent on land and construction costs, the charges paid to authorities for various approvals, interest paid to banks over the years, and the 12 per cent interest paid back to buyers of these two towers, among other costs," he had said.
The total built-up area in these two towers was around 8 lakh square feet. "We constructed these towers as per the building plan approved by the Noida development authority," he added.
According to property consultant Anarock's Vice Chairman Santhosh Kumar, the current value of over 900 apartments in these two towers would be over Rs 700 crore.
(With Agency Inputs)