Max to seek policy change to reduce Noida authority dues

Max Estates, the property arm of the Max Group, will approach the Uttar Pradesh government, seeking policy changes that will allow the Noida authority to write-off part of arrears from entities that are undergoing insolvency proceedings, chief executive Sahil Vachani said.

The company is the winning bidder for a Noida commercial real estate project that had gone bankrupt. The project owes about Rs 700 crore to the Noida authority, but as per Max’s resolution plan for the project, it is willing to pay only around Rs 400 crore and wants the authority to take a haircut on the rest of the amount as banks often do.

“We will approach the government, urging them to come up with a policy so that the development authority can take a haircut just like the bank. This will help in the revival of stuck projects and give delivery to home-buyers,” said Vachani, also the company’s managing director.

Recently, the National Company Law Tribunal approved Max’s resolution proposal for the project, ‘Delhi One’, on a plot spread over 12.5 acres.

The tribunal asked the developer to seek the authority’s approval for the implementation of the plan.

The Delhi One project was started by the 3C group, and it later went into insolvency. The requisite approvals to restart the project will take six months to a year, said experts.

Max might make some changes to the original plan, as the cost of construction has gone up substantially since the committee of creditors first approved the resolution plan in 2019.The company is expected to invest Rs 2,000 crore in the project to develop 2.8 million sq ft of Grade-A office space and serviced apartments.

There are already four operational towers in the complex, while one serviced apartment tower and four commercial towers are under construction.

Additionally, one retail block is under construction, and nearly 50% of the civil work is complete in the under-construction towers.

The bulk of the superstructure for various buildings was completed before the project stalled.

Of the 2.8 million square feet, about 1.3 million square feet have been pre-sold, and the remaining 1.5 million square feet will be available for lease or sale.

In the last six months, the company completed three land transactions, acquiring around 22 acres for Rs 850 crore. One of these lots will be used for residential development, while the rest will be used for commercial buildings.

In addition, it has entered into a joint development agreement with Namo Realtech to develop a group-housing project on the Dwarka Expressway in Gurgaon.

The company has planned to launch a residential project in Noida by the middle of this year.

Max Estates plans to acquire and develop 1 million square feet of premium residential and commercial office space each year.

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