Nearly 25K homebuyers hit as Supertech goes bankrupt

Realty major Supertech Ltd faced bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings Friday after failing to repay dues to the Union Bank of India (UBI).The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) started proceedings in accordance with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code-2016 against Supertech Ltd in response to UBI’s plea seeking its dues from firm. NCLT heard UBI’s case on March 17 and had reserved its opinion for Friday morning. A group of 100 homebuyers had also filed insolvency cases against Supertech in NCLT.NCLT also appointed Hitesh Goyal as an interim resolution professional (IRP) at Supertech and current chairman RK Arora and managing director Mohit Arora will cease to have decision-making powers. The IRP will also seek resolution plans from developers who may want to take over the debt-ridden firm and revive it.Besides UBI, many homebuyers had also filed insolvency and bankruptcy cases before the NCLT, seeking justice after the realty company failed to deliver the flats.“The homebuyers need not panic because a new developer will revive the company. Supertech has got adequate assets and homebuyers just need to follow the process and file claims. Not filing the claims will affect their interest,” said Piyush Singh of PSP Legal, who has filed 100 cases on behalf of the homebuyers who sought claims of at least ₹100 crore from Supertech. The real estate firm needs to deliver at least 25,000 units to homebuyers in 50 projects spreading across Noida, Greater Noida, Yamuna Expressway, Ghaziabad and Gurugram, among other cities.According to homebuyers in Greater Noida’s Eco Village, Supertech is yet to execute the registry of at least 12,000 flats and the delivery of around 7,000 flats are on a hold.“In Greater Noida, Supertech Limited has the highest number of flats that are yet to be delivered. We have called a meeting of all homebuyers on Sunday to decide the next course of action,” said Abhishek Kumar, president of Noida Extension Flat Owners’ Welfare Association. Kumar has got possession of his flat but is awaiting its registration.Reacting to NCLT’s order, Supertech chairman Arora said that his firm will appeal against the order in the NCLT.Supertech maintained that insolvency proceedings will not affect homebuyers in projects such as ORB, Golf Country, Hues, Azalia, Esquare, Valley, Basera, Metropolis mall and Pentagon mall.In August 2017, NCLT had started insolvency proceedings against another Noida-based realty major, Jaypee Infratech Limited (JIL), that affected around 25,000 homebuyers.Thousands of Jaypee Group homebuyers are still waiting for justice as NCLT is yet to finalise the revival plan. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vinod Rajput writes on environment, infrastructure, real estate and government policies in Noida and Greater Noida. He has reported on environment and infrastructure in Delhi, Gurgaon and Panchkula in the past.
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