ED attaches property of VGN Developers valued at RS 115 cr

ED attaches property of VGN Developers valued at RS 115 cr

The Enforcement Directorate, Chennai, has provisionally attached immovable properties of VGN Developers valued at Rs 115 crore. According to a press statement from the ED, it has attached the Chennai-based developer’s property under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The 10.46-acre property was purchased by the developer in 2013 from Hindusthan Teleprinters Ltd, a Government of India Undertaking.

A case was registered by CBI, ACB, Chennai for wrongful loss of Rs 115 Crore to the Government of India in buying the vacant land from State Bank of India, Stressed Assets Management Branch, Chennai. It was bought through a private treaty sale under SARFAESI Act to recover the dues of HTL, a public sector undertaking.

The CBI, ACB Chennai, alleged in the FIR that the bank official, company representatives and the buyers conspired to sell the prime land having a guideline value of Rs 387 Crore for a sale price of Rs 272 crore and causing loss of Rs 115 crore to the Government.

The officers of ED Chennai initiated investigations under PMLA and identified that the proceeds of crime in the form of wrongful gain derived by VGN Developers, which has been integrated in the construction  of multi storied residential apartments at Guindy, for sale to general public in the name of “VGN Fairmont”.

On the reasonable belief that “VGN Fairmont” contains the proceeds of crime to the extent of Rs 115 Crores, the said immovable properties were attached provisionally under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

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Govt stops villa project near Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary

CHENNAI: The state's department of town and country planning (DTCP) has issued a stop-work notice to a developer for not obtaining prior permission to construct their farmland and resort less than half a kilometre from Vedanthangal bird sanctuary. The DTCP has sent a notice to the Vedanthangal village panchayat president Vasanthi Lakshmi for approving the plot.

"The area around the bird sanctuary is classified as agricultural land, most of which is wetland, and Ramky Wavoo Developers hasn't sought permission from us before beginning the project," says the director of the department of town and planning, A Karthik.

Vedanthangal bird sanctuary is spread over 74 acres and more than 150 species of birds can be sighted here. It is a breeding ground for threatened bird species. Environmentalists say that it is important to protect the areas around the sanctuary.

"Any development in the proximity will lead to an increased use of water, noise pollution and damage the environment," said director of Bombay Natural History Society, Asad Rahmani. "We will give them one month time to respond to our notice, failing to do so the DTCP will lock up and seal the property," added Karthik. Ramky Wavoo officials say their intention wasn't to violate any law and will take necessary steps to ensure that their project 'Eco Polis' complies with all the requirements. "This notice is a small hiccup and we will respond at the earliest," said managing director of the company, W S Habib.

Habib says the project was approved by Vedanthangal village panchayat. According to DTCP, the panchayat president can only approve plots up to 4,000sq ft. The regional office of DTCP can approve projects up to 25,000sq ft. More than that, the developer has to approach DTCP headquarters in Chennai. The Ramky Wavoo Project is around 13,000 sq ft. The panchayat president said: "I'm from a village and I'm not aware of the rules and will be careful henceforth," she said.

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Pune builder Darode Jog in trouble for defaulting on fixed deposit repayments

Prominent Pune builder Darode Jog in trouble for defaulting on fixed deposit repayments

After DSK Group, yet another prominent developer from the city is walking a tightrope. Several home buyers and investors in Darode Jog Properties have been crying foul in recent times. While home buyers are ruing delayed possessions or cancellations, those who have invested by way of fixed deposits are alleging that the developers have defaulted on interest and principal.

Darode Jog is a three-decade-old construction company started by Sudhir Darode and Anand Jog. They have completed 70-odd projects so far in the city and have a dozen ongoing ones. The firm was recently embroiled in another controversy for not completing the handover of flats in a residential project in Model Colony. A complaint was filed against the founders at Deccan police station in December.

In the current case, buyers and investors have taken around 50 cases of cheque-bouncing and non-payment of interest to court. With time, sources reveal that at least a few dozen more cases are on the verge of being filed. The Pune civil court recently ordered that the developer must repay Rs 2 lakh along with interest to the investor. The case had been filed by Meenal Pangarkar, a resident of Kothrud, who had invested Rs 2 lakh with the developer.

Sources revealed that the developers had started a fixed deposit scheme under which they paid monthly interest or cumulative interest. Investors from both schemes are now wondering if they will ever see their money again.

Read more news related to Darode Jog Builder

• MahaRERA orders Vidhi Realtors to refund money
• Pune : Another Builder Darode Jog in City Booked Under MOFA

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Ajnara Gen-X residents in Ghaziabad protest against builder

Alleging builder indifference in maintenance issues, residents of Ajnara Gen-X, a housing society in Crossings Republik, held a protest outside the builder’s office in Noida Sector 63 on Saturday.

The protesters complained that lack of maintenance in the society was increasing the risk of accidents. They alleged that the builder, Ajnara Group, was turning a blind eye to the shoddy security service, malfunctioning lifts and lack of adequate firefighting equipment in the society, despite the residents paying maintenance charges every month.

Shobhit Chitransh, a resident of Saffron Tower in Ajnara Gen-X, said: “We have been pursuing this matter for two years now, but nothing has happened so far. The builder keeps saying the changes will be done, but nothing really happens.”

Citing a recent incident of elevator malfunction, Chitransh said, “My wife and two-month-old daughter were stuck in a lift on the 15th floor on Friday. The lift suddenly stopped midway between the 15th and the 16th floors. My wife couldn’t raise an alarm as the lift did not have any alarm buttons. They were trapped for 15 minutes and were pulled out with a lot of difficulty. Two more such incidents also occurred recently, and those trapped had to be rescued by guards.”

Residents also said a woman was recently harassed in the society. “But when the CCTV cameras were scanned for a footage, it was found that they were not working. Is this what we deserve,” asked a resident on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, Sanjeev Verma, manager (technical), Ajnara Group, said: “The lifts are an external agency, and maintaining them is their responsibility. We have stationed technical and security teams at the society to take care of any lapses, and there is no such problem. Lifts break down sometimes, but they are repaired immediately.”

A spokesperson for the builder said, “We have outsourced the maintenance of the society to a third-party agency, and we don’t directly interfere with their work. But now we will push them to pull up their socks.” A meeting between representatives of the builder and residents is scheduled for Thursday

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Gurugram: Seven years gone, over 500 Aura buyers still awaits possession

Gurugram: Seven years gone, over 500 Aura buyers still awaits possession

Over a hundred investors with flats in Universal Group’s Aura Project were up in arms against the developers on Friday, protesting the prolonged delay in completion and possession of their homes. The agitated home buyers trooped to the office of Universal Buildwell Private Limited in Sohna in the morning and staged a demonstration.

Developed by Universal Buildwell Private Limited in collaboration with another agency, the Sector 82-based project was launched in 2010 and was supposed to be completed in 2015. The developer managed to sell off most of the 596 residential units each costing Rs 60-70 lakh.

However, even after missing several deadlines, the developer could not complete the work till date, the buyers complained. Construction work has been on hold for the past couple of years, they alleged. “The work was stalled back in June 2015 for reasons best known to the developers. And despite our several requests, they have so far not informed us so as to why the construction has been on hold,” said Anil Pathak, one of the home buyers.

Sources said the construction licence was issued in the name of Shiv Ganesh Builcon which was valid up to May 2015. “Homebuyers had filed an RTI that revealed that the licence had not been renewed because the developers did not deposit Rs 36 crore aas external development charges to the government. But why should we suffer when we have already made the payments from our end?” asked Itender Pal Singh, one of the home buyers.

“The homebuyers have already paid over 70% of the cost of the flats. We are paying EMIs as well as rents. And on top of that, we have been running from pillar to post for the possession of our homes,” said Seema Kaushik, another homebuyer.

Some of the aggrieved buyers have already approached the consumer forum well as court, seeking refund of their money with interest. The Universal management did not respond to repeated messages and calls seeking their comment on the claims made by the home buyers.

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Navrangpura Police arrests Builder for Cheating - Sambhav Insfrastructure

Navrangpura Police arrests Builder for Cheating - Sambhav Infrastructure

Navrangpura police late on Wednesday evening arrested Mihir Desai, a builder and director of Sambhav Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, in a case of cheating lodged by a finance company on January 2, 2017.

According to police sources, the manager of India Infoline Housing Finance Ltd, Vinod Yadav, had lodged an FIR with Navrangpura police station alleging that Desai and his wife Toral had applied for a loan of Rs 2.85 crore against two offices located at Pinacle Complex in Vejalpur.

"According to the FIR, on approval and disbursement of the Rs 2.85 crore loan, Desai regularly paid the monthly installment of Rs 4.38 lakh for eight months and then suddenly stopped paying," said an investigator.

According to police sources, the FIR states that on verifying papers at the sub registrar office, the financiers learned that both the offices were mortgaged to another company and a provisional agreement of sale was made with one Kanji Patel for the offices. Navrangpura police inspector R V Desai said they arrested Mihir Desai for the offence late on Wednesday evening.

Read  another news related to the Sambhav Infrastructure Pvt Ltd:

• Builder held for selling flat, then mortgaging it to Bank

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CBI chargesheets IRB chief, 17 others for cheating bidv - IRB Infrastructure

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday filed a chargesheet against Virendra Mhaiskar, chairman and managing director of IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited, and 17 others for criminal conspiracy and attempting to cheat the state by grabbing massive tracts of government land at village Pimpaloli along the Pune-Mumbai expressway for a proposed integrated township project.

The case was initiated in 2009 by RTI activist Satish Shetty, who was murdered in January 2010. The then sub-registrars of Lonavla and Maval talukas in Pune district and a lawyer are among the accused named in the chargesheet, which was filed in the court of special judge (CBI) A K Patil here. Mhaiskar and 11 others later appeared before the court, which granted them bail. The court also allowed Mhaiskar to travel abroad on conditions.

IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited is the holding company of the IRB Group. Its subsidiary, Ideal Road Builders Private Limited, was given the contract to maintain the expressway from August 2004 to 2019. Aryan Infrastructure Investments Private Limited is the other IRB subsidiary and real estate development arm which was involved in the purchase of land between 2007 and 2010. The sale deeds for some of these lands were later scrapped through a cancellation deed.

For the township project, the IRB Group had purchased 559 acres land at Pimpaloli from January 17, 2007 to June 23, 2010 and another 794.76 acres in village Taje from January 17, 2007 to April 18, 2011, the chargesheet stated. Most of these lands had already been acquired in the name of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), which built the expressway, between 1995 and 2000, it added.

IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited, in a disclosure to the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange on Wednesday, which was signed by Mhaiskar, stated, “The company and its officials have been fully cooperating with the authorities during the course of the investigation and have provided all information and documents upon request.”

The disclosure further read, “We deny all allegations made against Mhasikar, Gadgil and the company in this matter and will seek appropriate remedies under the law.” Lawyer Rohit Takavane, who appeared for two of the accused who were arrested earlier in the case by the Lonavla city police and later released on bail by the Vadgaon Maval court, said, “The CBI court allowed our plea to continue the bail granted to the two accused on the same terms as laid down by the magistrate.”

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City developer arrested for cheating Army men of 35 cr

The economic offence wing (EOW) of the state Crime Branch on Monday arrested a real estate promoter here on charges of cheating a number of defence personnel of nearly Rs 35 crore with the false promise of giving them land in the city.

The accused was identified as Pradipta Kumar Barik, 52, of Surangapur under Delang police limits in Puri district. EOW sources said Barik was arrested from a hotel located near the Bhubaneswar railway station. The EOW had arrested the mastermind behind the fraud, Purna Chandra Panda, the managing director of Brookson Infrastructure Pvt Ltd. "A Delhi-based company had floated land and housing schemes for defence and ex-defence personnel in Bhubaneswar. The company had joined hands with Panda and Barik. They collected money from people, but did not provide them the promised land or houses," said an EOW officer.

The Delhi-based company's chairman is a retired army officer and a Kirti Chakra awardee, EOW sources said. "A total of 542 serving and retired defence personnel from Odisha and other states paid Rs 35 crore to the company, which claimed to have floated land and housing schemes near Chandaka in 2011. The beneficiaries were assured they would get possession of their property by June 2012," the officer said.

The company roped in Brookson Infrastructure to develop a colony on 27 acres named 'Defence Intercity Vatika' near Chandaka. Each beneficiary who paid the cost of the land as per the measurements to the company, paid an extra Rs 25,000 directly to Panda as fee for registration of the land.

In July, a retired defence officer lodged a complaint with the EOW and alleged that neither the company nor Panda had given them the plots. "When the beneficiaries approached the company, they were told to wait. Panda, too, did not pay heed," said another EOW officer.

On July 27, the EOW registered a cheating case against Panda. "During interrogation, Panda told us that the company had paid him Rs 19.62 crore of the total collection of Rs 35 crore. Our team will go to Delhi to interrogate the chairman of this company and other functionaries about the transactions," the officer said. EOW sources said the 27-acre property in Chandaka is mired in a legal dispute. "Panda is not owner of the land. We are verifying the land records. We will take Panda in remand for further questioning," the officer added.

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Defaulter builders list off Greater Noida authority’s website - Cheated Buyers

Under pressure from the builders, the Greater Noida authority removed the list of Defaulter Builders list from its website that was posted barely a week back.

On September 6, the authority had made defaulter builders’ names public on its website, for homebuyers use. The authority said they removed the list of defaulter builders as some of them complained that banks started troubling them. However, the Noida authority officials denied any pressure from the builders.

   

“There is no pressure at all from builders. We have removed it because we want to revise the same. After we put the details of defaulter builders on website of 95 project owners (builders), 48 have submitted applications to clear land dues. If these builders clear dues, we will compile a fresh list and put the same online again,” said Deepak Agarwal, chief executive officer of the Greater Noida authority.

Initially, the authority made public a list of 164 group housing projects, which together owe R 4,500 crore (including interest on default). Later, they revised the list and said there were 95 defaulter group housing projects.

“If builders will clear 10 per cent of defaulted amount by September 22 and get payment of the remaining land dues rescheduled, we will remove them from the defaulters’ list,” said Agarwal.

Read more: CM Akhilesh Yadav to listen to Noida homebuyers’ grievances next week

If 48 builders, who have shown intent to pay dues deposit 10 per cent of total default, the authority will get around Rs 700 crore to fuel Development Projects.

Homebuyers said the details of the defaulter builders on the website are helpful to buyers who want to ensure the financial stability of a builder before buying a property.

“Homebuyers have stopped payment of instalments of flats to builders because the builders have lost trust as they divert collected amount (from buyers) into other projects, delaying the already launched group housing projects. If the list of defaulter builders is made public, prospective buyers will not be cheated,” said Indrish Gupta, founder of Noida Extension flat owners’ welfare association.

To ensure builders do not divert collected fund the authority is asking builders to open joint escrow accounts.

“After the defaulter list was out, relationship between banks and builders got sour. If it continues, builders will further suffer and so do the under construction projects, troubling buyers who have bought flats,” said another Greater Noida authority official.

THE TOP 10 DEFAULTERS*

Amrapali Group: Rs 1304 crore

Unitech Ltd: Rs 280 crore

Omaxe Constructions Ltd: Rs 156 crore

ATS infrastructure Ltd: Rs 144 crore

Panchsheel Buildtech Pvt: Rs 112 crore

Rudra Buildwell Projects Pvt Ltd: Rs 76 crore

Asteroid Shelters Limited: Rs 68 crore

Shubhkamna Buildtech Pvt Ltd: Rs 24 crore

Patel Advance JU: Rs 88 crore

Sam India housing: Rs 52 crore

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Moody’s reviews Lodha Developers’ B2 rating for downgrade - Cheated Buyers

Rating agency Moody’s Investor Service has placed Mumbai-based real estate development company Lodha Developers’ B2 corporate rating on review for a downgrade.

Rating agency Moody’s Investor Service has placed Mumbai-based real estate development company Lodha Developers’ B2 corporate rating on review for a downgrade. Simultaneously, it has also put B2 backed unsecured rating of the USD denominated bonds issued by the company under the scanner. Earlier this year, the financials of Lodha were downgraded. In January, Lodha’s rating was revised from B1 to B2. “The review follows the consent solicitation from bondholders in relation to the waiver of breach of restricted payment covenant on thebonds due in 2020, amendments to the indenture, as well as a proposed reorganisation in which properties located in London will become part of the restricted group,” says Saranga Ranasinghe, a Moody’s assistant vice president and analyst.

At June 30 2017, the company and certain of its subsidiaries had made restricted payments in the form of loans to the London entities, whichare not part of the restricted group, the report stated. Also it provided guarantees of indebtedness at London entities by Palava Dwellers Private Limited; these entities were all in breach of the restricted payment covenant.

Lodha is seeking consent from the bondholders to waive the breach of the restricted payments. Whether the bondholders will give their consent will be known by August 9, further scrutiny of Lodha’s documents revealed. The company is also seeking consent to reorganise, such that its London properties will now become part of the parent company. The review will focus on whether Lodha will receive the required consent.

As such, Moody’s views the proposed reorganisation of the London properties as credit neutral, because despite the increase in debt, there will be an increase in cash flow, as the company develops and sells the two London properties. In the absence of consent from bondholders, the company will need to redeem the $200 million bond.

Meanwhile, the company said that during the April to June quarter, it has beaten the industry wide demand slowdown and recorded salesworth Rs 2300 crore. It’s quarterly collection also was robust at Rs 2,600 crore, according to its top management. At the moment, sales bookings has crossed 200 million pounds until the June quarter, a PTI report said. Lodha’s MD recently pegged a sales revenue of 1.5 billion pounds (over Rs 12,000 crore) in the next three years from two ongoing housing projects in central London, the report enumerated.

The company forayed into the London realty market in 2013 with the acquisition of the landmark MacDonald House at 1 Grosvenor Square for overGBP 300 million (Rs 3,100 crore). The group acquired another site in central London, New Court at 48 Carey Street for 90 million pounds in 2014.

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Authority directs Amrapali to submit plan on delivering flats - Cheated Buyers

The Greater Noida authority on Wednesday organised a tripartite meeting of Amrapali Group CMD Anil Kumar Sharma and homebuyers at its Knowledge Park 4 office with an aim to address buyers’ grievances.

The authority’s additional chief executive officer Janardhan, financial controller Arvind Mohan and other officials directed the Amrapali Group to submit a detailed roadmap as to how the realty firm will deliver the flats by June 7 failing which it will face action. Amrapali Group had in 2009 launched Amrapali Dream Valley project in sector Tech Zone-IV that has total 47 towers where it wanted to construct around 12,000 dwelling units. Around 8,000 flats out of 12,000 have already been sold to home-buyers. 

Homebuyers are upset with the builder and are threatening to sit on a fast-unto-to-death from June 20 claiming the builder failed to deliver flats in 2013 as promised.

“Even now, the builder has got no concrete plan to revive and deliver flats to buyers. Now he wants to rope in a co-developer to deliver the flats to the buyers. The builder has collected around ?748 crore from 8,000 homebuyers and only 40% construction has been completed at 47 towers. The builder has diverted funds into other businesses,” said Hitesh Nakashi, a buyer.

Homebuyers said they have already paid almost 80% of the total amount, but the builder is yet to finish 60% construction on site.

“We want the builder to provide a balance sheet as to where he spent the funds collected from buyers. If he had spent the funds on the project, we would have had the flats delivered by now,” said Satish Kumar, a buyer.

Homebuyers said that they have decided to intensify their agitation not only against the builder but also against the authority because officials did not conduct proper monitoring of the project.

“We have directed the builder to submit balance sheet, tower-wise completion plan and co-developer details by June 7. We will also get conduct inspection done at the site to ensure the builder does not fool buyers by furnishing wrong information,” said Janardhan, the ACEO.

The Amrapali Group assured that he will resume construction by July 1.

“The project was delayed due to court cases over land between farmers and the Noida authority. We assure buyers to address their issues. We will submit details as sought by the authority and resume construction at earliest,” said Anil Kumar Sharma, CMD of Amrapali Group.

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Ekta World Brochure & Agreement mein zameen-aasman ka pharak hai!

Ekta World Brochure & Agreement mein zameen-aasman ka pharak hai !

Ekta Group of builders cheats and bullies its customers — no two ways about it.

Don’t be fooled by clever PR campaigns, paid media, beautiful website, and estate agents. Don’t get taken in by endorsements of reputed corporates like HDFC Realty, HDFC Red, or mentions in Magic Bricks Now. Don’t go by Anil Kapoor’s endorsement and MCHI-Credai Awards for Customer Responsiveness.

That’s all smokescreen.

Booking a flat in an Ekta World project means giving lakhs of rupees with no safeguards and no legal entitlements. Even when the flat-agreement is registered, it is an unfair, one-sided agreement that make you lose all your rights as a flat purchaser. Ekta builder’s overall strategy is to make the buyer helpless. As they say in market language, “Builder ko haath kaatke de dene jaisa hai” — like cutting off your hands and giving them to the builder!

Why are we making such harsh statements against a reputed builder? To understand why, please read:

(1) brochure of Ekta Parksville. The brochure is full of rosy promises,

(2) flat-purchase agreement for Ekta Parksville. The sale agreement tells you that you have no rights and no legal entitlements. Builder ka sab kuch, buyer ka kuch nahin!

After reading the brochure and the agreement, if you still feel that this builder is fair and reliable, then go ahead and invest your hard-earned money in an Ekta Project! After all, flat-buyers get the builders they deserve!

| POSTED IN PUBLIC INTEREST |

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Builder arrested in ULC scam - Cheated Buyers

With the arrest of a builder from Mira-Bhayander township here, Thane city police today claimed to have unearthed a scam in the ULC department of the District Collectorate.

Also, police booked one more person and an architect besides the then government officials from the ULC section (of the Collectorate and Civic Corporation) involved in the fraud.

They have been booked under sections 420, 467, 468, 470, 471 and 120B of the IPC and also sections 13 (1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988, police said.

The accused builder--Shaymsunder Agarwal--who was supposed to surrender his excess land holding to the government under the ULC Act or get an exemption from the government under Section 20 of the Act, had cheated people and authorities into believing that he has got the exemption and carried out construction on a plot in Mira Bhayander locality.

For proceeding with the construction, he went ahead cooking up the permissions, orders etc for which he made use of stamps and signatures in connivance with government officers.

According to a senior police officer from the Thane Commissionerate the fraud caused losses to tune of Rs 11.17 crore to the government exchequer.

"This is only a tip of an iceberg and further probe will reveal many more such violations under section 20 of the ULC Act in various civic corporation limits in the district," he said.

An FIR has been registered with the Thane Nagar police station in connection with the case.

The offence states that all the alleged accused had connived and when it was necessary to give 5% of land to the government for sake of economically weaker while carrying out the construction on the ULC land they conveniently cooked up records and evaded it.

The land under construction was totaling around 23340 sq.Mts of which a specific area was to be given to the government which the alleged accused conveniently avoided. They also managed the NA and building permissions for the same from relevant departments.

The matter came to light when social activist sourced out information under the RTI Act to find that several such properties were not only sold in the open market without permits from the competent authority, but mutation entries of original owners were deleted and transferred to new buyers in the 7/12 revenue records.

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Six Vascon employees booked for fraud

The Pune police booked six employees of Vascon Engineers Limited for allegedly committing a financial fraud to the tune of Rs 34.82 crore.

Matthuswami Krishnamurty (51) of Vascon Engineers has lodged the complaint in this case at the Bund Garden police station. The suspects include company's vice-president Manoj Kallur (48), project in-charge Madhav Kalgavekar, project manager Arvind Gangabaksha Singh, time-keeper Dattatraya Gaikwad and billing engineer Rahul Sonwane.

Police arrested Kallur, following a complaint lodged by Krishnamurthy, who looks after the legal and financial matters of the company.

Police said while working on different posts between November 1, 2007 and July 31, 2009, the suspects allegedly conspired and misused their position to commit a financial fraud to the tune of Rs 34.82 crore by showing more expenses for certain work without taking prior permission from the company.

All the six suspects have been booked under Sections 420, 4662, 467, 477 (a), 405, 407, 408, 415, 418, 201, 120 (b), 34 of the Indian Penal Code. Senior police inspector Ukhaji Sonwane is investigating the case.

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Builder pulled up for delay, told to allot flat to buyer

The A.P. State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (APSCDRC) has directed Aditya Construction Company India to hand over a flat in one of its buildings at Hafizpet to a complainant who approached the commission stating delays in the process.

Sreedhar Naidu Medikonda, a resident of Secunderabad, had booked a flat in the Aditya Imperial Heights building at Hafeezpet in December 2010, and paid Rs. 1 lakh as advance. After paying Rs. 4.87 lakh later, he entered into an agreement of sale with the company in December 2012.

Mr. Naidu complained that the builder failed to get the sanction of layout from the seventh to 14 floor of the building from the authorities on time because of which the housing loans he sought from banks were cancelled more than once. However, the bench noted that as per the agreement between the two parties, Mr. Naidu also did not pay the ‘minimum balance advance’ for the flat, because of which he was not liable for a ‘Pre-EMI’ housing loan scheme offered by a bank.

The construction company also contested that the complainant did not submit relevant documents to the builders for consideration of sanctioning a housing loan to him. It also stated that not obtaining the layout approval for the aforementioned floors is not a ground for complaint, and that he had also left for the US in between once without informing them, and so they could not be blamed.

The bench noted all the those facts, and ruled that since the construction company has not cancelled his allotment still, the builders should hand over the apartment to Mr. Naidu within a month whenever he pays the balance amount.

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Shriram Properties plans township at Uttar Pradesh

Shriram Properties plans township at Uttar Pradesh

Bengaluru-based Shriram Properties, part of the Shriram Group, will invest around Rs.10,000 crore in developing a township - with residential-cum-commercial usage - at Uttarpara, some 20 km north of the city. Called Shriram City Grand, this is the company’s first such project in the State.

The project will come up on nearly 314 acres that once belonged to CK Birla-promoted Amabassador-car maker, Hindustan Motors. The car factory alongside has been lying closed for quite some time now. Shriram paid nearly Rs. 290 crore (approx) for the land but owing to the absence of clearance, it was lying unused. 

Another 72 acres were later purchased by Shriram to ensure connectivity of the project to the nearest highway (Delhi Road). “The first phase will see development of residential properties. The following phases will have office spaces, including IT companies. There will be schools and other educational institutions, hospitals and so on,” the Managing Director M Murali said.

Phase I begins

The first phase, which will be residential complex catering to the affordable housing segment will have 2300 apartments. Each flat will be priced between Rs.12 lakh and Rs.30 lakh with an area (superbuilt) varying between 489 sq feet and 1199 sq feet. Apartment handover is expected to happen within 42 months and the work is expected to begin shortly.

The entire township project, according to him, is expected to be completed over a decade and is likely to generate employment for 40,0000 people. The company is also looking to have projects in the North-East. Details are being worked out. Shriram Properties, Murali said, is planning to raise around Rs.1,000 crore from private equity (PE) funds in FY-17. The funds will be raised for various new property launches in south India, Murali said.

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Chinese firm Fosun eyes Rs 800 crore stake in Nitesh Estates

Shanghai-based Fosun Group is in advanced discussions to invest Rs 800 crore ($125 million) in southern developer Nitesh Estates in what would be the Chinese conglomerate’s first M&A deal in the Indian real estate sector.

Billionaire Guo Guangchang-led Fosun, with more than $75 billion in assets, is likely to pick up around 50% stake as it looks to build a property platform to expand in the country, people directly familiar with the matter said. This would be Fosun’s second buy in India after snapping up controlling shares in Hyderabad-based Gland Pharma in a billion-dollar deal last year.

Nitesh plans to issues shares to Fosun Property Holdings and IDERA Japan, which is controlled by the former, through preferential allotment. The Bengaluru-based company’s founder Nitesh Shetty will retain 25% and continue to run operational management. The potential transaction would trigger a mandatory open offer by the company to public shareholders, though there are no delisting moves afoot now.

JM Financial, Yes Securities, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and EY are said to be advising on the deal-making. Shares in India’s first Ritz Carlton hotel will not be part of the transaction as the first generation entrepreneur Shetty plans to keep it as a part of his personal investments. Similarly, Nitesh Hub mall in Pune, which is majority-owned by Goldman Sachs, is also not part of the ongoing deal with Fosun. When contacted, a senior Fosun India official and Nitesh Shetty declined to comment.

Nitesh has a portfolio of 20 million sqft of completed and under development residential and commercial projects. The company plans to use the proceeds to pare debts and fast track under development projects delayed by adverse market conditions. Going forward, Fosun would co-invest with Nitesh Estates to acquire property assets to expand the Indian real estate footprint. Three years ago, Fosun made a similar entry into Japanese real estate industry by acquiring mid-size asset manager IDERA Capital Management, which owned office buildings in greater Tokyo.

Fosun has been on the prowl for real estate assets in New York, London, Milan, Moscow and Tokyo in recent past. It floated a joint venture acquisition vehicle with European investment firm Resolution Property and counts iconic addresses such as London’s Lloyd Chambers, Milan’s Palazzo Broggi, One Chase Manhattan Plaza and the historic Voentorg building adjacent to Kremlin in Moscow in its portfolio.

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Indian homebuyers petition top court over bankruptcy law

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of homebuyers Tuesday petitioned India's top court to challenge the country's insolvency law, their lawyer said, amid fears that bad loan problems are spilling over to hurt ordinary people.

The group included more than 500 people who invested in a massive housing project outside Delhi, which has since collapsed.

None of the investors have received their homes at the Silicon Valley township project -- more than four years after the original delivery date.

But a bank that lent the developer Amrapali 510 million rupees ($7.7 million), has moved to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against it after the company defaulted on its loan repayments.

The petitioners claim the bankruptcy law introduced last year gives banks that lend to property developers unfair priority, and fails to safeguard homebuyers, their lawyer Ashwarya Sinha told AFP.

Once a company declares itself bankrupt, buyers are unlikely to get either their promised apartments or have investments returned.

"The law is flawed and it should treat homebuyers at par with secured creditors," Sinha said.

"Under the bankruptcy law consumers are not recognised as creditors.

"At most they will be granted the status of an unsecured creditor, but in that case not even the principal amount is secured, forget the interest payments the buyers have made."

Unsecured creditors are among the lowest on the totem pole of claims.

The petitioners are among millions of middle-class Indians eager to own their own homes, and who, from the mid-2000s onwards, poured cash into new building projects on the outskirts of major cities as a property boom took hold.

But many major residential property projects in India have been held up as real estate companies put the cash invested by homebuyers to uses other than completing existing projects, leaving consumers who poured in their money stranded.

Meanwhile, with India's real estate sector now riddled with debt and delays, the nation's banks -- which have some of the highest levels of bad debts in emerging markets -- have stepped up efforts to clean up soured loans.

Amrapali is the second real estate company to face bankruptcy proceedings after Jaypee Infratech, where more than 30,000 people are still waiting for the homes they paid for.

Experts worry as Indian banks step up much-needed efforts to clean up their balance sheets, there could be more such cases.

 Followings are another complaints on Era Landmarks India Ltd:

•  Regarding possession in amp dreamvally highrise

• Amrapali Dream Valley II Builder Amrapali has cheated the buyers

• Delay in possession

• I have booked a flat in Amrpali Dream Valley project as no EMI till Possession. Builder is not giving EMI to bankar since last six months bank is issuing messages for paying EMI what can I do

• Amrapali Dream Valley fraud

• Greater Noida homebuyers demand action against Amrapali Group

• Amrapali Dream Valley home buyers demand completion road-map

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Flat buyer drags Mumbai's Ekta Housing to court for selling promised flat

Mumbai-based prominent developer, Ekta Housing Private Limited will have to face criminal charges in the magistrate court for allegedly cheating a buyer and violating the Maharashtra Ownership Flat Act, 1963 (MOFA). A court of additional sessions judge in recent order provided major relief to a Bhawani Peth-based flat buyer by rejecting a revision petition of the developer seeking relief against criminal charges.

The developer Ashok Mohanani (63) and his son Vivek (36), both residents of Kalanagar in Bandra, had constructed a housing project, ‘California’, at NIBM Road, with the help of complainant Kishore Hiranand Nainani (62). Despite paying for it, he received a demand draft of the amount, after which he approached the court. Ironically, the project is being constructed on the land which was sold to the developer through Nainani, who used to work as real estate agent.

Nainani managed to issue summons to the developer early last month. However, the developer got a stay order by filing a revision petition saying that the property belonged to his wife.

In his plaint, Nainani has said that in 2007, the accused had requested him to find a suitable land near NIBM. They agreed to pay one per cent commission on the agreement value. They purchased 26,000 sq metres for Rs 37.71crore. The accused further requested Nainani to help them for selling the proposed flats and also agreed to pay him two per cent of commission.

After selling six flats, Nainani allegedly became entitled to claim Rs 13 lakh as commission. The developer was liable to pay Rs 50.71 lakh to the complainant towards the entire commission. They paid Rs 5 lakh as an advance by account payee cheque.

Since Nainani was also in need of big house, he booked a flat in the name of his wife Meena Nainani. The developer agreed to sell the flat to him at the rate of rs 3,271 per sq ft. The total consideration worked out to Rs 73.62 lakh. After subtracting the amount of commission, the complainant was allegedly liable to pay Rs 39 lakh to the developer. However, on December 3, Nainani got the letter saying he has paid nothing and that the going rate was now Rs 4,021 per sq ft.

However, this issue was settled for a while. Next, the developer printed his daughter’s wedding cards from Nainani. With this deal, the sum of Rs 12.50 lakh was due from him. The developer agreed to credit the said amount towards consideration of the amount payable by Nainani. He further kept following up the developers, requesting them to register the sale agreement in his favour, but they avoided to do so.

Again, the booking was cancelled putting Nainani in a dilemma as he had already obtained a loan of Rs 33 lakh. He said, “I am still staying in rented premises and unable to buy any flat as I spent my earnings in buying this one. The developer took disadvantage of friendly relations.”

These details proved to be sufficient grounds for the court to initiate proceedings against the developer.

Advocate Bhojwani, representing the Nainani claimed that there are prima facie evidences to show that the amount had been paid from the complainant’s account.

Judge MNM Saleem, while rejecting the developer’s claim, said, “ The developer paid a demand draft of Rs 44.66 lakh to Nainani as a refund. This prima facie shows substance in the complaint. Selling of the flat to third person also shows dishonest intention. After the receipt of 20 per cent sale price of the flat, it was incumbent on the part of developer to execute an agreement. There appears violation of the provision of Section 4 of MOFA.”

Advocate SK Jain, representing developer Mohanani, said that they have now filed an appeal before the high court. “The matter will come up for hearing in couple of days. The sessions court ruled out our request on technical points only. The complainant has no locus standi as the flat was brought by his wife,” he said.

 Followings are another complaints on Era Landmarks India Ltd:

• Kumar Builders and Mumbai based Ekta Parksville asked to advance their possession deadlines
• NEVER TRUST EKTA PARKSVILLE HOMES PVT. LTD.

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