NOIDA: Supertech homebuyers are jittery about their delivery timelines and the fate of houses that are either delayed or are in projects facing litigation - like insolvency proceedings in the NCLT - after its chairman RK Arora's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday.

Of immediate concern is the real estate company's ability to secure funds to complete its projects when its chairman faces a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case and the group an investigation for alleged laundering of bank loans worth Rs 1,500 crore.

An insolvency petition by Union Bank of India, which said Supertech had defaulted on Rs 432 crore in dues, was admitted by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on admitted by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on March 26, 2022. Appellate tribunal NCLAT, however, limited insolvency proceedings to just Ecovillage 2 in Greater Noida and the approved resolution plan entrusted completion of the other projects with the promoters of Supertech, under the watch of an NCLT-appointed resolution professional.

Arora's arrest, homebuyers feared, will throw the resolution plan in disarray. Homebuyers pointed to Unitech projects to underline their point. After its promoters were taken into custody, Unitech, under the Supreme Court's watch is now run by a board which is headed by a retired IAS officer but has yet found the going tough. Its projects have made little progress. The primary concern is funds to complete them.

According to a status report submitted by the resolution professional in the NCLAT, Supertech has 20 ongoing projects with 49,954 housing units between them. Out of these projects, nearly 28,000 units are still in the construction phase while 9,705 units are with homebuyers but have not been registered yet. Around 12,000 units have been registered.

Homebuyers said they have seen slow progress in projects since the NCLT proceedings began and were apprehensive that Arora's arrest would bring that to a halt. Raj Kumar, who has a flat In Ecovillage 2, said," The Supertech chairman's arrest could erode the confidence of investors and financiers. Consequently, one fears construction will take a hit."

Paromita Banerjee, a homebuyer who lost her husband during the pandemic said, "The developer had allotted me a flat under a rental scheme as a stopgap arrangement till the time my flat gets ready. Since 2017, I have been living in this rented flat, but in April last year, the developer stopped paying the rent. Since then, I have been paying it from my own pocket, besides the EMI for the flat I haven't got. There has been no progress even after the appointment of the resolution professional."

Banerjee and other homebuyers of Ecovillage 2 have threatened to stage an indefinite hunger strike if construction work does not commence by August 15.

Kailash Chandra, president of Supertech's Upcountry Buyers' Association - a project also under the resolution professional's watch - said he was fast losing hope. "We wil file a case in the Supreme Court, urging it to allow homebuyers to take charge of completing the projects themselves. We no longer have faith that funds will be available for Supertech to complete their projects."