The Calcutta bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has allowed Ambuja Neotia Group to take over a 9.4 acre plot from the Batanagar township project to complete its ongoing residential development, while sending the rest of the land parcel for re-bidding among interested parties.
Two separate orders passed by a bench of justice Bidisha Banerjee and technical member Siddhartha Mishra split the fate of hapless homebuyers who had trusted Riverbank Developers Private Limited (RDPL) for a multi-year, multi-phase development of the 262-acre plot along the river Hooghly, which was carved out of the Bata shoe factory in 2007 for real estate use.
According to the order, the Ambuja Neotia group takes over the asset parcel of 9.4 acre for ₹34 crore, where 12 towers were projected to come up earlier. However, only three towers involving 557 units are under construction at present. The project, named Usshar, was launched in 2019 with Ambuja as the developer and marketing entity, while the land remained with RDPL.
The project managed to sell 317 units before the land owning company went into a tailspin. Ambuja now hopes to complete the remaining work of the ongoing G+31 towers within two years and hand over the project to homebuyers. It would take a call on the rest of the land later.
Harshavardhan Neotia, chairman, Ambuja Neotia Group, said: “This approval brings clarity and stability to a project that has faced prolonged uncertainty. Our approach is to revive Usshar responsibly, with transparency and care for all stakeholders, especially homebuyers. We see this as an opportunity to restore confidence and deliver a well-planned residential development.”
Longer wait
For 2,381-odd homebuyers stuck with RDPL, a resolution to the ongoing impasse will depend on a fresh round of bidding. The lenders of RDPL had rejected the resolution plans put forward by MKJ Enterprises Ltd (Keventer) and DTC Projects Pvt Ltd, who had bid for the entire land parcel, sans the Usshar project.
“…the present application seeking to reinitiate the process with publication of fresh Form ‘G’ to invite fresh EoIs and resolution plans, is
allowed for balance land parcels excluding “Usshar Parcel 2” or such other land parcels for which a plan has already been approved by the CoC and is being approved today,” the bench of Banerjee and Mishra wrote.
While resolution has been achieved in respect of Usshar parcels, no resolution plan has been approved for the balance land parcels of RDPL, thus creating a fractured situation.