The Noida Authority is planning to reclaim 13 acres of a 24-acre area in Sector 144 that was allotted to the Unitech Group for residential projects in 2011, but no work was initiated on it in all these years.
Officials said on Tuesday that this plot is not part of an ongoing Supreme Court case over unfinished projects of Unitech, so the Authority can cancel its allotment.
“The Authority took a decision to reclaim the land in its last board meeting. But it will seek SC’s approval before taking possession of this land,” an official said.
Allotted a 1 lakh sqm land parcel in Sector 144 in March 2011, Unitech took over possession of this area only in 2015.The same year, the realtor requested division of the parcel and subsequently sub-leased 11 acres to Gulshan Group, which carried out two housing projects on this section.
The remaining 13 acres of land has been vacant since, and Unitech had accrued dues of Rs 392.8 crore as of April 2024. According to the lease deed, the developer was supposed to complete projects on the Sector 144 plot by July 2022. “As no projects were launched, there are no homebuyers associated with this land,” the official said.
The lack of development in the Sector 144 plots is attributed to a Supreme Court case that was filed in 2016 over Unitech’s unfinished projects and the subsequent arrest of the developer’s former promoters.
SC, in 2019, dissolved the Unitech management and appointed a govt-approved group of directors to complete the realtor’s unfinished projects. The new management took charge in 2020.
The two plots of 13 acres are not mentioned in Supreme Court’s April 2024 order, which had directed the Noida Authority to approve the layouts for Unitech projects where homebuyers had been allotted flats. Around 5,500 homebuyers have been waiting for possession of their flats and villas in Unitech projects across sectors 96, 97, 98, 113 and 117.
On Noida Authority’s stand to reclaim vacant land parcels allotted to Unitech, SC said a decision on it will be taken later. Unitech had proposed constructing new towers and plotted houses in vacant areas to generate capital and resources to complete its unfinished projects, but the Authority had opposed it.
