Greater Noida Authority cancels allotment of 1,200 plots

The Greater Noida Authority cancelled allotments of around 1,200 plots on Tuesday on account of non-payment of pending dues by their owners. 

These include 1,173 residential plots in different sectors of the city. Authority officials informed that allotments of 25 industrial plots and 12 institutional plots have also been cancelled.

Officials informed that the authority has taken the extreme step because it is reeling under a huge financial crisis to the tune of over Rs 6,000 crore to a number of banks and financial institutions. Non-payment of dues for several terms by plot allottees has added to the financial burden of the authority.

The cancellations were effected after the allottees failed to pay up three consecutive pending dues against their respective plots despite repeated notices issued by the Greater Noida Authority. Officials said that more cancellations might be effected in the near future as notices are being issued to several other allottees who have goofed up on making timely payments.

All plots, which had been allotted through different schemes by the authority since the year 2009, have been cancelled. Cancellation letters, said officials, have been issued to all allottees losing their plots.

“The cancelled plots will be put up for fresh allotments through a leftover scheme. The details of the scheme are being worked out following which the plots would be put up for sale,” said Manvendra Singh, DCEO, Greater Noida Authority.

Greater Noida Authority intends to raise revenues through the re-allotment of these plots so that debts and loans incurred by it can be cleared. A portion of the revenue so raised would also be used for paying compensation to farmers in lieu of their land in accordance with the Allahabad high court verdict of October 2011.

However, the authority also informed that it would give the first preference to original allottees of these plots to regain their allotments through a restoration process. Allottees would have to clear their pending dues together with penalties. “They will also be required to pay stiff restoration charges for regaining possession of their plots,” added Singh.

Training Program on Planning & Starting Property Consulting Business

In its objective to enhance professionalism in real estate and create a pool of knowledgeable and professionally competent property consultants, NIREM Institute of Real Estate Management has started offering a training program on ‘Planning & Starting Property Consulting Business’ on 11-12 November, 2013 at Delhi.

Through this training programs, NIREM aims to provide a knowledge platform to all those who want to start their own property consulting business. 

In the two-day program, participants are introduced to various aspects of real estate business including the right approach and method to start a property consulting business with a focus on handling customers in the most professional manner.

Few of the important topics are identifying and understanding the real estate markets, legal issues involved in property sales and transaction, coordination with builders and developers, lead generation and management, online marketing of properties, property sales skills, meeting clients’ expectation, quality in service delivery, consumer rights and protection, consultants’ rights and duties etc.

The course objective is to prepare a pool of professional real estate consultants who have thorough knowledge and competency to provide advice to clients about various aspects of property sales, purchase and investments.

Admission in this course is open to all those who want to start their own property consulting business and is offered on first-come-first-served basis. The program is scheduled on 11-12 November, 2013.

Those interested in joining the program may get in touch with the Admission Officer, NIREM at 011.42484988 or mail to info@nirem.org

Land Acquisition Act is a fraud, ought to be scrapped: SC

Frowning at increasing incidents of government forcibly acquiring land for industrialization and residential schemes, the Supreme Court observed that the Land Acquisition Act ought to be scrapped as it is a “fraud” devised by some “sick people”. In a morale booster to the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat, the apex court complimented it for its land acquisition policy since there are “no complaints of any forcible acquisition” whereas issues of farmers and poor being uprooted are pouring in from all other states

A bench of justices G S Singhvi and H L Dattu cautioned that if remedial measures are not initiated then in another five years muscle men would take over the private land and utter chaos would prevails as the prices of land are shooting up everywhere. “The Act has become a fraud. It seems to have been devised by people with a sick mind who have scant regard for the welfare of the common man,” Justice Singhvi heading the bench observed.

The apex court made the scathing observations while dealing with a bunch of petitions filed by aggrieved farmers from Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur district on the forcible acquisition of 82 acres of land by the state for developing a leather industry.

Property Prices to Increase Sharply in Greater Noida: GNIDA

Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) on Friday said consumers will have to pay much more for properties in the region in future after the Supreme Court disallowed acquisition of 176 hectares of land from farmers. The authority also said it will return the land to the affected farmers as per the apex court ruling and will strictly follow the new land acquisition policy of Uttar Pradesh in acquiring land for future projects.

“After this court order, we will acquire all future land keeping in mind the market price and hence will have to pay higher land prices. Automatically, sale prices will increase and hence end consumers will be impacted severely,” GNIDA Chief Executive Officer Rama Raman said. The authority will follow the court orders in “letter and spirit” and will return the land to farmers, he added. “Initially, we will return the land as per the orders. We will see later how we can proceed in this respect after going through the detail judgement,” Raman said. He, however, did not specify what GNIDA will do to compensate the developers, but said it will acquire land at regular intervals “as and when necessary”.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court had upheld a verdict of the Allahabad High Court that quashed acquisition of 176 hectares of land from farmers in Greater Noida saying the authorities were “sub-serving” private builders in the name of public interest. Raman, however, said real estate development in the area is unlikely to get affected due to the judgement. “I don’t think it will affect much, but due to procedural steps, we may only witness some delays,” he added. Meanwhile, real estate analysts said the Supreme Court decision is unlikely to affect much in the future, but rather it will help all stakeholders to approach cautiously.

“Demand will not be impacted much in the region as developers are taking various proactive measures to address customers’ concerns. “From now onwards, all future transactions will see double verifications from all parties like consumers, developers and the government. It is a good thing for the sector to avoid any controversy,” Jones Lang LaSalle Chief Executive Officer (Operations) Santhosh Kumar said. He said developers may feel some impact in the near future as they are either refunding the money or giving alternate locations to consumers, who had booked their properties in the disputed area. Expressing similar sentiments, Cushman & Wakefield India Director (Residential Services) Shveta Jain said there will not be any significant impact to the existing customers as developers are relocating them to other projects in the area.