Greater Noida Authority cracks the whip on Supertech group

Greater Noida Authority has cracked the whip on a prestigious builder firm which has violated the sanctioned building plan. The authority has asked Supertech group to seal 1,009 flats and villas located in its Czar Complex in Sector Omicron 1, Greater Noida, for large-scale violation of the sanctioned plan.

Nearly half of these 1,009 units, which include 105 villas, have already been sold. The authority said that the company had permission to build 844 housing units at Czar, but it built 15 residential towers with a total of 1,853 units in this 20-acre township.

Till date, not a single family has moved into those 1,009 flats in Czar complex. About 200 families have started living in other units at the complex. Residents of these units noticed the violations and reported to the Greater Noida Authority.

Following the complaints, the Greater Noida Authority had served Supertech a notice on April 11, giving the developer 30 days to seal the properties or face penal action. The flats affected by the order are spread across several towers, including 4, 5, 6 and Nicolas. Flats at Czar are on sale for Rs 2,525 per sqft to Rs 3,890 per sq ft.

Supertech denied any violation of rules in its 20-acre township and said it had purchased additional floor area ratio and submitted revised plans for sanction. RK Arora, managing director of Supertech, said, "We constructed the additional units after purchasing additional floor area ratio (FAR) from GNIDA in December 2014. The revised building plan to accommodate the additional units has also been submitted to the Greater Noida Authority. These extra units are within the permissible limit and are covered under the UP government's policy for purchasing FAR." He added, "We are ready to pay the additional cost for the units. We have submitted revised plans to the authority for sanction."

But senior officials of the Greater Noida Authority are not satisfied with construction company’s argument. PC Gupta, ACEO of Greater Noida Authority, told City Spidey, “Construction cannot be carried out first and sanctions applied for later.” Gupta added, “The land for Czar was allotted to Supertech on September 15, 2006, and the lease deed was executed on January 10, 2007. The layout plan for first phase of the project was sanctioned on March 30, 2007. Then, we cleared two revised plans in October 2010 and March 2013 for 844 residential units.”

This is not for the first time that Supertech Group has courted controversy. Two years ago, Supertech had faced a major crisis when the Allahabad high court asked it to demolish two residential towers, Apex and Ceyane, at its Emerald Court project in Noida's Sector 93A. Supertech had taken permission to build two 24-storey towers, but later raised the height to 40 storeys. The Supreme Court, which is now hearing the case, had put a stay on the order. Many buyers in this project have already taken a refund from the builder.