Supertech Ltd. wants to develop a new residential property at the same place where its twin towers once stood. If not allowed to do so, it will seek a refund of land cost and other expenses, Chairman RK Arora has said.
At 2:30 pm on Aug. 28, Supertech's nearly 100-metre-tall twin towers in Noida -- Apex and Ceyane -- were demolished on Supreme Court orders. The apex court had found that their construction within Emerald Court premises had violated building norms. More than 3,700 kg of explosives were used in the controlled demolition.
After the debris gets cleared from the site, Supertech will submit proposal before the Noida Development Authority to develop a housing project and also take consent of Residents' Welface Assoction of Emerald Court, if needed.
"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 two acres of land," Arora said. "Now that the twin towers have been demolished, we'll submit a plan to develop a housing project on the two-acre land, which is owned by the company."
"We will also take consent of RWA of Emerald Court if required," he said.
When asked about the RWA's plan to build a temple on the land, Arora said, "The RWA should own the land to develop anything. Land is owned by us." The two-acre land parcel does not fall under green area, he said.
In case the permission to develop a housing project is not granted, he said Supertech will seek refund of land cost from the authority. "The land cost at 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."
The demolition was a setback for the Supertech brand, Arora admitted, but claimed that the company had developed the twin towers according to the building plan approved by the Noida Development Authority and that no deviations were made.
When asked whether the company is facing difficulty in raising funds and in sales, Arora said the company has been convincing its customers as well as financial institutions that the demolition would not impact Supertech's other projects. "We have completed and handed over more than 70,000 units to homebuyers since inception and are committed to give delivery to remaining 20,000 homebuyers over the next two years," Arora said.
On Aug. 28, Arora had told the Press Trust of India that Supertech suffered a loss of about Rs 500 crore -- including construction and interest costs -- because of the demolition of its twin towers in Noida.
"Our overall loss is around Rs 500 crore, taking into account the amount we have spent on land and construction cost, charges paid to authorities for various approvals, interest paid to banks over the years, and the 12% interest paid back to buyers of these two towers, among other costs," he had said. "We constructed these towers as per the building plan approved by the Noida Development Authority."
The total built-up area in these two towers was around 8 lakh square feet.
According to Anarock's Vice Chairman Santhosh Kumar, the current value of over 900 flats in these two towers would be over Rs 700 crore.
The two towers, which were launched in 2009, comprised 1 BHK studio apartments as well as 2 and 3 BHK flats of 1,050-1,475 square feet.
Anarock said the project was launched at Rs 3,200 per square feet. The price was revised to Rs 5,200 per square feet in 2012 when the number of floors was increased to 40. Kumar said the current market rate of flats at this location is Rs 8,500-9,500 per square feet.
Demolition Drive
The Supreme Court had in August last year ordered the demolition of the twin towers and directed that the entire amount of homebuyers has to be refunded with 12% interest from the time of the booking. The apex court also ordered that the RWA be paid Rs 2 crore for the harassment caused due to the construction of the twin towers.
The court had said the construction of Supertech's twin towers with 915 flats and 21 shops was done in collusion with the Noida Authority.