NOIDA: After waiting for years, even a decade, 51 buyers of Amrapali Dream Valley Enchante in Greater Noida West finally received the keys to their apartments on Sunday.
The National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) began the handover process, four years after it was given charge of completing the stalled project. The remaining 800 homebuyers of this Amrapali project are likely to be handed over possession of their flats soon.
Shailendra Bhadauri (56), a single parent, had booked his 2BHK flat in 2013 for Rs 38 lakh. He took a loan of Rs 12 lakh to pay for it and currently gives Rs 18,000 as monthly installment to the bank. Employed in the public sector, Bhadauri fortunately has a govt accommodation in Delhi but would need to vacate it when he retires in three years.
On Monday, the 56-year-old said he was “overwhelmed” that he would finally get the flat he had invested in.
“Purchasing this flat took nearly all of my life savings and I still continue to pay loan installments for it. As an Amrapali buyer, I also found it difficult to get a loan because banks demanded an official letter from a court or NBCC. From protests at Jantar Mantar to approaching the Supreme Court, our path was far from easy. The emotional and financial toll of this struggle has left an indelible mark on our lives. But at least now, there’s a glimmer of hope,” Bhadauri said.
The Amrapali Dream Valley project in Greater Noida West was initiated in 2010, and it was supposed to be developed in three phases.
Construction for Dream Valley Enchante, the third phase, began in 2014, with a promise by the developer to hand over flats in 36 months. But the developer had just excavated the site when construction was halted due to bankruptcy.
The Supreme Court in 2019 assigned NBCC as the project management consultant for cash-strapped Amrapali projects. The company’s responsibility was to finish construction of the developer’s remaining 38,159 units and common facilities within the societies.
NBCC in 2020 gave the tender for construction of Dream Valley Enchante to a private firm, but this company was blacklisted in 2022 due to construction delays and non-performance. The same year, NBCC roped in another firm, Gautam Builders, to complete work at the society.
Of the five towers at the society, two towers – H5 and H6 – with 300 flats are complete, and the remaining three towers are in final stages of completion. All flats are 2BHKs.
Anuj Maurya, who works in the financial sector, was another homebuyer to get the keys to his apartment on Sunday. He too dealt with the financial burden of paying back a loan of Rs 15 lakh, and has been living on rent in Ghaziabad’s Vaishali all these years. Just months before, he completed all payments for his Rs 33-lakh flat.
“I had booked my flat in 2015, and by 2018, I thought I would never be able to get it. It was after I saw the determination of other homebuyers that my perspective shifted. I joined their protests and their support and camaraderie helped me persevere through these challenging times. Still, this wasn’t an easy journey. The financial burden and lack of stability took their toll on me,” Maurya said.
Dipankar Kumar, among those spearheading the homebuyers’ cause, said the “long battle is now bearing fruits”. Kumar is one of the Dream Valley Enchante homebuyers who is yet to get possession of his flat.
NBCC is currently handling 14 unfinished Amrapali projects in Noida. These include Sapphire 2, Crystal Homes, Golf Homes, Centurion Park 2, and the other two phases of Dream Valley.
In its 2019 order, the apex court held Amrapali Group and its directors accountable for misappropriating homebuyers’ funds for their own benefit and cancelled its licence under the RERA Act.
