Groundbreaking ceremony for three Unitech housing projects in Noida

The Supreme Court-appointed Unitech Board on Sunday organised a groundbreaking ceremony at the Unitech Golf and Country Club in Noida Sector 96 for three projects whose implementation was delayed for over 15 years because the company ran out of funds and defaulted on dues, people familiar with the matter said, adding that 400 homebuyers attended the ceremony.

The three projects are Amber, Burgundy and Willows in sectors 96, 97 and 98 respectively along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway. Unitech chairman and managing director YS Malik said Amber and Burgundy will be delivered to homebuyers after June 30, 2026, as work has already resumed. Plots in Willows will be delivered within six months, Malik said.

“We will deliver the plots in the next six months if everything goes as planned and the development remains on track without any constraints like the phased response plan that comes in during the winter. We will develop a 5-metre, 3.4-kilometre path around the Unitech Golf Course and complete all works before offering possession. Our target is to sell the unsold plots in January 2025 to raise funds for construction and expedite delivery to homebuyers,” Malik said.

Amber and Burgundy are luxury residential towers, while Willows is a bungalow project. The Noida Authority, following a Supreme Court order, had in June approved revised building maps for the residential towers, which are partially constructed. Building maps for Willows were also approved.

The tower projects comprise 818 apartments spread over 164 acres of land in sectors 96, 97 and 98. At least 638 apartment buyers are waiting for the delivery of their apartments in these two projects. The remaining 180 apartments will be sold in the future. Amber has seven towers with 422 apartments, Burgundy has seven towers with 395 apartments and Willows has 397 bungalow plots. A total of 5,586 home buyers are waiting for possession in all the three locations.

Unitech failed to complete the projects as it did not have sufficient funds to pay land dues to the Noida Authority amounting to approximately Rs. ₹11,000 crore and was unable to arrange funds to execute the projects. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and other agencies are still probing the issue of diversion of funds by Unitech promoters, according to government officials.

The Unitech board was formed in 2020 to replace the promoters in their positions and take over control of the company from them after they failed to deliver the projects. Following a Supreme Court order on April 26, 2024, the body approved the revised maps on May 30 and published the drawings on June 25, allowing construction to resume on the site.

Unitech chairman said he needs ₹60 crore to complete all basic development works before handing over the land to the owners and ₹5 crore for construction of paths around the golf course. “We need to get ₹70 crore from the buyers of the plots and ₹65 crore has to be spent on land development. We can raise ₹300- ₹“The Rs 400 crore from the sale of plots is expected to be used to fund construction of other projects and deliver flats to buyers,” Malik said.

He added that Amber and Burgundy are facing a shortage of funds but the situation is under control. “We will urge the Supreme Court to order banks to finance our projects on the lines of the Amrapali case where banks were ordered to finance projects to ensure delivery to homebuyers,” Malik added.

“The board’s formation and the Supreme Court order paving the way for the groundbreaking ceremony have given us hope after a long legal battle. We hope that the work will proceed as planned and pray that nothing will disturb the positive work that is going on at the site. We pray that we get our flat that we booked in 2011 with the promise of possession in 2012. I hope that my son, who is working now, will play golf here and my daughter will also move in with us. The house is likely to be delivered within 24 months,” said Anil Saxena, 64, who bought a 3,798 sq ft flat in one of the tower projects.

“It was a long legal battle and we are glad that we finally got justice. We want to thank the Supreme Court, the government and the chairman of the board who are working day and night to deliver the units to all the homebuyers. We are so positive now as things are moving in the right direction,” said Sanjeev Sood, president of Amber Buyers Association.