Noida twin towers demolition: Supertech chairman explains how the land will be used now

The land, where Noida's Supertech twin Towers once stood tall, will now be used for a residential project after getting the due approval from Noida Authority and consent from the homebuyers of Emerald Court, RK Arora, Chairman and Managing Director of Supertech Limited said on Thursday.

"We will use that land with the approval of the authority and by taking the consent of the RWA, we will use that land as per the rules," Arora told news agency ANI.

He reiterated that the building plans for the Emerald Court Project at Sector 93A Noida, including that of two now-demolished towers - Apex and Ceyane - "were approved by the Noida Authority in 2009 which was strictly in accordance with the then prevailing Building byelaws".

"No deviation from the Building Plan was made and the building was constructed after making full payment to the Authority. Now both the towers are demolished and we had paid the demolition cost of Rs 17.5 crore to the agencies involved in the demolition as per Supreme Court," he said.

The twin towers were brought to rubble on August 28 after Supreme Court ordered the demolition last year. It was alleged that the twin towers were constructed in violation of the UP Apartments Act of 2010.

The court had also asked authorities to refund the entire amount of home buyers with 12 percent interest from the time of the booking.

"We have refunded 95 percent of the homebuyers of Apex and Ceyane twin towers. The remaining 5 percent of the people who are left as people are coming to us. We are either giving them property or returning the money with interest and fully complying with the order of the Supreme Court," Arora said.

Meanwhile, for homeowners, the demolition has been bittersweet. It is said that while the Supreme Court has assured homeowners of a full refund, the compensation might not be enough for many to look for homes in the area.

As the prices of the apartments were close to Rs 40-50 lakh around 2009, the refund would amount to roughly twice that, along with the 12.5 percent interest. However, at the same time, the prices of property around the area have soared 4X.

Besides this, one of the housing project Ecovillage II located at Greater Noida of Supertech Limited, promoted by RK Arora, is also facing an insolvency proceeding, ANI reported.