NOIDA: Over 20,000 homebuyers waiting for their flats in Jaypee Wish Town for over a decade now have their eyes set on the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s verdict on a petition filed by the Yamuna Expressway Authority (YEIDA) challenging an NCLT order approving the insolvency resolution submitted by Suraksha Group for the Jaypee Infratech Limited (JIL).
After nearly nine months of negotiations, the YEIDA and Suraksha Group are yet to reach a consensus regarding the payment of additional compensation to project-affected farmers.
In April 2023, YEIDA approached the appellate tribunal after the NCLT on March 7 last year rejected its claim seeking Rs 1,689 crore for payment of additional compensation to farmers. The NCLT had limited the sum to Rs 10 lakh considering YEIDA as an operational creditor, while approving Suraksha’s bid to take over JIL.
Homebuyers said no significant construction has taken place in the stalled projects since July last year due to the stalemate.
Ashish Mohan Gupta, president of JIL Real Estate Allottees Welfare Society, said, “The construction activities need to be expedited. Our association has filed an additional affidavit in the appellate tribunal, praying for the construction to resume in the 97 stalled towers, as mandated in the approved resolution plan.”
The appellate tribunal, which reserved its order in the case on Monday, had started day-to-day hearings in the case from April 18. During the hearings, Suraksha Group offered to pay Rs 1,216 crore as additional compensation in five instalments over four years. However, YEIDA has rejected the proposal and insisted the case be decided on its merit.
The Authority also demanded Rs 120.5 crore for land acquired in Aligarh and Rs 1,570.7 crore for that in Agra as part of the enhanced compensation awarded under the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act, 2013.
In its April 29 affidavit, YEIDA termed Suraksha’s offer “palpably unreasonable, unfair and against the public interest”. The Authority said farmers have been awaiting their rightful dues since 2014 and expecting them to patiently wait for another four years is unrealistic. Until the farmers are paid the amount of additional compensation, no construction or development work will be able to continue.
YEIDA said Suraksha is expected to earn a substantial profit because the market value of the land, ceded under the concession agreement, has increased due to the upcoming infrastructure, including Noida International Airport and expressway links, in the region.
“In 2011, lands in the district of Gautam Budh Nagar were procured at the rate of a mere Rs 880 per sqm. In 2024, the lands are being allotted at a substantially higher rate of Rs 25,900 per sqm, displaying an increase of over 2,800% in market value. This appreciation in the market value of the land is a result of public expenditure towards the construction of the Noida International Airport at Jewar, the linking of the Yamuna Expressway with the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway and the Dedicated Freight Corridor. Suraksha will, thus, derive the benefit of this public expenditure and earn substantial windfall gains by monetising the land without even paying fair value for that land,” the Authority’s affidavit said.
It said the toll revenue from the Yamuna Expressway is increasing each year and is expected to escalate as airport operations begin.
“In 2020-2021, the toll collection was Rs 334.18 crore, which rose to Rs 380.03 crore in 2021-2022. In the last financial year (2022-2023), the toll collection was Rs 428.91 crore. The amount of revenue (that) Suraksha will earn from toll collection is likely to increase substantially in the future, as a result of the estimated increase in traffic on the Yamuna Expressway,” it stated.
YEIDA also found a reduction of the additional compensation amount of Rs 1,689 crore to Rs 1,216 crore “unjustifiable”.
Suraksha proposed a deduction of Rs 143 crore stating Noida Authority has paid additional compensation to farmers.
