Reports were rife that the Union Ministry of Urban Development had sent a recommendation for drafting a proposal to allocate stress fund to revive hopes of over 2 lakh flat buyers in the twin cities of Gautam Budh Nagar district.
There were reports stating that government may allocate stress fund in the budget to revive over two dozens of halted projects in Noida and Greater Noida. However, the home buyers have been hugely disappointed saying that their genuine concerns have once again be snubbed by the government.
Reports were rife that the Union Ministry of Urban Development had sent a recommendation for drafting a proposal to allocate stress fund to revive hopes of over 2 lakh flat buyers in the twin cities of Gautam Budh Nagar district.
As per it, recommendation was made with certain conditions, for instance, direct relief or relaxation to builders was suggested only if they give written undertaking to complete the projects within three months.
Home buyers in Noida, Greater Noida, Indirapuram and other parts of NCR have been individually and collectively demanding for stress fund as financial assistance to complete the projects.
Sameer Bharadwaj, who has booked a flat in Eco-Village 1 in Greater Noida West said, “No doubt we had high hope from this budget that home buyers’ problems will be considered but they remained unfulfilled. An exemption of Rs 3.5 lakh was given on flats worth up to Rs 45 lakh. But it is not clear whether it would come through banks or the government. Banks would charge interest on their loans according to what they had fixed during the sanction of loan.”
Bharadwaj added , “What benefit a home buyer would get from this announcement who had booked a flat in 2010 and paying bank’s EMI apart from paying up to 90 per cent of the dues. Out of 8400 flats in Eco-Village 1, 2200 have been handed over so far and rest are under construction.”
The flat buyers had in fact held a demonstration at Jantar Matar, an earmarked place to showcase agitation against lobby of developers and the banks. Flat buyers of Jaypee Infratech projects, Amrapali group housing projects, Eco-Village, Eros Sampoornam and many more had protested and had demanded for stress fund for the government in this budget.
“The home buyers' concerns are genuine. A section of society is reeling under financial burden after taking home loans. There have been much talk on it that government was planning something to do in favor of home buyers but now it seems that fate of over 2 lakh home buyers is uncertain as the government shown no interest to resolve the issue in this budget,” said Abhishek Kumar, president of Noida Extension Flat Owners Welfare Association (NEFOWA).
The demands for stress fund have been made from various corners. A delegation of Forum for People’s Collective Efforts (EPCF) on July 3 had approached Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman and claimed to have apprised the minister with details of the relief sought for home buyers. Probably this meeting had given a room for news to flat buyers that the government was planning to setup a way for stress fund for incomplete housing projects.
