India’s most expensive high street and Delhi’s toniest shopping district Khan Market is seeing big names shutter shop as the lockdown eats into the restaurant and bar business.

Just a few days ago, bookshop chain Full Circle and Cafe Turtle shut down their flagship store after 15 years. Restaurants such as Side Wok, Smoke House Deli, and Smokey’s are also on their way out.

“The main issue was of high rent. We did try and negotiate with our landlord but nothing worked out. The economics, too, did not work out, we had to manage operating costs, salaries and so we took this tough decision to move out,” Priyanka Malhotra, director, Full Circle, told Moneycontrol.

Experts say economic uncertainty, social-distancing norms and failed rent negotiations are the reasons businesses are moving out of the market that was set up in 1956 to rehabilitate some 70 refugee families from Pakistan. They could rent a shop for Rs 50 then.

Rated as India’s most expensive retail location, the cost of built-up space and lease is high in Khan Market. With a premium on space, most of the restaurants and bars that are tightly packed will struggle to be viable while following the social distancing norms.

The average rent for restaurants and bars on the first and second floors is between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 8.5 lakh a month in the market ranked as the world's 24th most expensive retail location by real estate consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield earlier this year.

“During the COVID lockdown, the shops which were on lease would have found it extremely tough to pay the rent unless they were exempted by the landlord. However, shops which are self-owned would find it easier to tide over this tough period,” said advocate Yudhist Singh, Senior Partner, YNS & Associates.

Some of the eateries have asked for the rent to be halved along with a two-month waiver on account of the lockdown. While some property owners have agreed to higher concessions, others have not been amenable.

“As a brick and mortar bookstore, it is even harder now for us to sustain the business. We were lucky in case of our Nizamuddin and Greater Kailash stores, where landlords were fine with not charging us rent during the lockdown and also reducing the rent,” said Malhotra.

They have moved to Meherchand Market in Lodhi Colony, another tony neighbourhood, a few kilometres away “at one tenth the rent”. Along with Full Circle, a children’s book store is also planned.

The lockdown might have eased but not the virus. Delhi has seen a huge spike in cases in June, taking the number of confirmed infections past 34,000.

Shoppers virtually disappeared after deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the national capital would have 5.5 lakh COVID cases by July end, Mehra said.

“In the last three days, we have done less than 2 percent business. It is so dull that you can play cricket in Khan Market’s parking lot. Not only are shopkeepers losing business, the government, too, is losing on revenue,” he said.

Parking has been a huge problem in the market, with weekends a nightmare.

“Social-distancing norms and rigid sanitation rules are forcing restaurants to reconsider their plans. Bar sales are a big component of their business and that does not exist, which may force more restaurants to shut down,” he said.

The government banned the sale of liquor when it allowed restaurants to reopen. The COVID-19 norms that include strict hygiene and regular sanitisation could add another 20-25 percent to operating costs.

“This hits F&B the most because there is no income and these measures have to be implemented before clients walk in,” said a consultant, who didn’t wish to be identified.

Around 75,000 migrant workers, who had returned to Uttar Pradesh during the lockdown imposed to stop the spread of coronavirus disease Covid-19, will now get employment in the various real estate projects underway in the state.

Real estate body Naredco said in a statement on Tuesday that of the over 2.8 lakh labourers it had approached, 75,000 have so far agreed to work.

The state unit of National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) had, on May 29, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Uttar Pradesh government to provide employment to 2.5 lakh migrant workers who had returned to the state.

The MoU was signed by Naredco’s UP chapter in the presence of chief minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow.

Following the agreement, the Yogi Adityanath government had provided the realtors’ body a list of 2.85 lakh labourers seeking employment. Additionally, three more lists were received from district industries centres in Sonbhadra and Ghaziabad, according to a statement released by Naredco.

“Naredco has approached 2.85 lakh labourers through calls and SMS out of which 75,000 labourers have given their consent for working in real estate projects,” Naredco UP president R K Arora said in a statement, according to a PTI report.

The statement further said that the realtors’ body has sent emails to 75 district magistrates in the state to inform that it has shortlisted labourers from their district concerned as per data received from the UP government.

At least 50 developers in the state have approached Naredco, sending enquiries for around 1.25 lakh workers, Arora said, adding that such queries have been increasing. He said that so far, 5,000 workers have joined work at various construction sites in the state.

According to the initial pact between Naredco’s UP chapter and the state government, around 1.25 lakh workers will be absorbed at Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida in the national capital region, while the remaining 1.25 lakh will be taken for projects across other cities in the state.

Ahmedabad

A seven-decade-old legal battle for a parcel of ten acres land worth more than Rs 200 crores in Vadva area of Bhavnagar city has entered the next phase as some builders have filed an appeal before a two-judge bench of the Gujarat High Court.

The legal heirs of the erstwhile royal family of Bhavnagar have staked claim on the land of which rights were transferred to the few builders in 2011.

Last month Justice BM Trivedi had ruled that the land belongs to the Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and it should take possession of the land. While giving judgment in favor of the civic body, the HC had observed that it was acquired for the town planning scheme before independence way back in 1937.

However, three builders have challenged the order before the two-judge bench which ordered status quo on the land. Either parties have been ordered to restrain from creating any third party rights. The court has issued notices to the parties connected with the matter while posting the matter on July 6.

"Till the next date of hearing, parties to maintain status-quo as on today with regard to possession, revenue entries and title of the property in question. Even the appellants are restrained from creating any third party rights over the property in question by way of sale, mortgage, lease or in any other manner," stated the order issued by the bench consisting of Justices AJ Desai and UA Trivedi.

The case was filed by the BMC challenging an order passed by the Gujarat Revenue Tribunal (GRT) in 2011 giving ownership of the land to heirs of the Maharaja Virbhadrasinh Gohil. The land was actually acquired by the State of Bhavnagar in 1937 for a town planning scheme from one Bhura Ranchhod.

The land was not listed in the properties owned by the royal family after its merger with Union of India. Later it was included in the list of properties owned by the royal family.

Thereafter the various legal proceedings initiated in the different legal forum and landed in the Gujarat High Court in 2011 as the land's ownership was given to the heirs of the royal family. They sold the land to the third-party the next day of the order issued by the GRT. The order was challenged by the BMC to the Gujarat High Court on the ground that the land was not included in the inventory of properties by mistake and it belonged to the royal family only. On the other side, the BMC had submitted that the land belonged to the state and was acquired for the town planning scheme.

Nikunj Soni, Ahmedabad Mirror, Ahmedabad

Bengaluru

In a relief for Chalet Hotels Pvt Ltd, a part of K Raheja Group of companies, the High Court quashed an HAL order cancelling its own NoC issued for a residential project in Koramangala Industrial Area near the old airport.

However, the relief is restricted to construction of residential apartments/ flats to a height of 62 metres above ground level.

The petitioner-company had proposed to construct a residential complex with two basement floors, a ground floor and 17 upper floors, and issued an NoC for the project on October 28, 2011. However, HAL conducted a check through Survey of India and found that the under-construction building would be beyond the permitted 932 metres sea level and would compromise operations and safety of HAL Airport.

HAL issued another order on August 16, 2013 cancelling its own NoC. However, the petitioners claimed they had got a survey done by aeronautical experts and that there was no bar on construction up to 957 metres above sea level.

The court directed HAL for a resurvey either by Survey of India or Karnataka State Remote Sensing Application Centre.

Source: TNN, Bengaluru

Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has directed the officials to start construction of new houses for the poor.

The CM wanted the officials to take up the work on a pilot basis Visakhapatnam, Nellore and Kurnool districts in the first phase.

Speaking to the officials at a review meeting on housing programme at the chief minister's camp office at Tadepalli near here on June 2, Jaganmohan Reddy told the officials to plan the construction of 15 lakh houses in the first phase. He told them to have a uniform design for all the houses with each house having a bedroom, living room, kitchen, toilet and portico.

The chief minister also told the officials to pool money to clear pending dues worth Rs 1,323 crore to the beneficiaries. When the officials told him that the previous government had to pay this amount, the chief minister asked them to clear this due before taking up the new project. This would benefit 3,38,144 beneficiaries across the 13 districts, who have constructed own houses during the previous government and were not paid the bills.

The chief minister also reviewed the work relating to the distribution of house sites to 27 lakh women in the state on July 8, marking the birth anniversary of the late chief minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy. The chief minister told the officials to take government lands in the villages for house sites. He also told them to identify private land and purchase them to distribute among the poor. The officials told the chief minister that the house sites are ready for distribution as the exercise was already completed across the state.

Gopi Dara, TNN, Vijayawada

Over two months into the lockdown, construction activities in Krishna district are gradually picking up pace again after the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) resumed the supply of sand in containment zones.

The APMDC had stopped the supply of sand in containment zones in the state as the number of positive Covid-19 cases started to increase. The halt in construction activity affected close to 20,000 workers from Jharkhand and Bihar who were taking shelter with local builders. In a report on May 25, this paper had highlighted how the shortage of sand had hit builders and construction workers in Vijayawada city.

Following representations by industry bodies to allow booking sand online for non-containment areas, the APMDC started accepting online orders for all areas. Construction activities have picked up since then. "Finally we are happy to start our works after two months. Hundreds of migrant workers were taking shelter in our work site and it became a huge burden on us to feed them. We are happy that sand orders have been revived and most of our builders have started works," said K Narayana, a city-based builder.

Meanwhile, as part of pre-emptive measures, authorities at the labour welfare department have directed builders to take necessary measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 at construction sites. Masks have been made mandatory at the site and hand sanitizers should be provided. In addition, builders have been directed to take measures to maintain physical distancing at the project site. "We are very much concerned about the health of our workers. We are checking the temparature of every construction worker who attends duty and only permitting the healthy workers. Healthy diet is provided to them so that they can get strength and immunity," said K Raju Kumar, a city-based builder.

Venu Lanka, TNN, Vijayawada

Institutional investment in Indian real estate fell 12 per cent to $4.48 billion (around Rs 33,800 crore) last fiscal year on lower economic growth and uncertainty over the coronavirus pandemic, US-based property consultant Vestian said.

"The fiscal year 2020 saw a total institutional investment of $4,480 million. This depicted a decline of 12 percent when compared with the quantum of investment in the previous year fiscal year 2019," Vestian said in the report.

During the fourth quarter of the last fiscal, institutional investment in real estate dropped 44 percent to $727 million compared with the same period of the previous financial year.

The financial year 2019-20 observed the lowest quantum of investment in five years, it said.

The consultant attributed this decline "largely to the tight economic situation during the year and the uncertainty brought forth by the COVID-19 crisis in the last quarter of the year".

The commercial assets accounted for 81 percent share ($3,636 million) of the total investment in fiscal year 2020, followed by the residential segment with 13 percent share ($565 million).

Across geographies, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune cumulatively accounted for nearly 90 percent of the total investment in real estate in fiscal year 2020. Mumbai led with 42 percent share, followed by Bengaluru with 37 percent share.

Majority of the investment in fiscal year 2020 was led by investors from the US, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. The US-based institutional investors accounted for 67 percent share of the total investment, the report said.

On the possible impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the Indian real estate, the consultant said the commercial segment would remain subdued for the next 2-3 quarters while the residential segment could take a longer period of time to revive.

"With a number of risk factors arising in the real estate industry such as extended timelines of construction/project completions due to lack of labour availability, impact on sales and the long wait for approvals, PE and other institutional funds would be cautious in choosing the developers and projects for funding," the report said.

US-based PE firms, that have led investments in Indian real estate in the past five years, may tighten their purse strings amid the COVID-19 outbreak, it added.

With increased risk in the sector, the funds that were available at 15 -17 percent are expected to cost 18-20 percent depending on the project attributes.

Vestian, which has a presence in the Indian market, said that investors would target over 20 percent return on their investments.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that the real estate sector is in a state of "complete breakdown" amid the lockdown and Modi should look into the issue personally.

In the letter dated May 27, Pawar demanded that the prime minister undertake measures to revive the sector which has been hit hard.

"Amidst unprecedented pandemic COVID-19 and consequent nationwide lockdown, the Real Estate Sector is in a state of complete breakdown," Pawar said in the letter, which he shared on Twitter on Thursday.

The massive "outflux" of labourers, stoppage of work and sales for almost three months, stagnant demand and impaired economic activities have taken a toll on this industry "which contributes substantially to the national GDP", he said.

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) too has written an open letter to Modi about the crisis and requested his immediate intervention, the former Union minister noted.

CREDAI has made a few recommendations such as one-time (loan) restructuring, additional institutional funding, waiver of penal interest, policy innovations for triggering consumer demand, controlling cartelisation of raw material, changing criterion of affordability for GST applicability and operationalisation of SWAMIH fund to help the sector, he said.

The Special Window for Completion of Construction of Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH) fund was created by the government with contributions from financial institutions such as LIC and SBI to complete over 1,600 stalled projects with 4.5 lakh housing units.

"I shall be grateful if you personally look into the matter and initiate necessary measures for revival of one of the most important sectors of economy i.e. the Real Estate Sector," Pawar said in the letter.

When the Modi government took over for the second time last year, the performance of the real estate segment was muted owing to the prevailing liquidity crunch, high inventory overhang, weak affordability and subdued demand conditions. However, interest rate cuts and focus on affordable housing, not to mention the creation of the Rs 25,000 crore stress asset fund for stalled projects, did propel the sector towards a road to recovery but the COVID-19 outbreak spoiled the party.

If the Modi government introduced several structural changes during its first term in office such as the implementation of RERA, GST, IBC, PMAY scheme for affordable housing, it focused on several liquidity boosting measures as it took over the office for the second time last year.

The Reserve Bank of India slashed repo rates by a total of 135 basis points in 2019 in order to boost economic growth and increase liquidity. Affordable housing remained upbeat in 2019 thanks to multiple government sops throughout the year. First-time homebuyers were given further tax deductions (now amounting to Rs 3.5 lakh in a year) on interest amount of home loans below Rs 45 lakh availed within FY 2020-end.

On the commercial front, notwithstanding concerns about an ongoing domestic economic slowdown, demand for office space was resilient due to expansion and consolidation plans of various multinational and domestic corporations. The financing environment for the segment was also favourable in light of the successful listing of the first Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) in India, as well as the strong interest for rental yielding assets demonstrated by foreign investment funds. Unfortunately, COVID-19 proved to be a major dampener.

Creation of an alternative investment fund of Rs 25,000 crore for last-mile funding of stalled housing projects

For the housing sector, the government announced the alternative investment fund (AIF) of Rs 25,000 crore to facilitate the completion of stuck affordable and mid-segment homes. This was meant to help complete 350,000 stuck housing units.

The government, acting as the sponsor, committed Rs 10,000 crore with fund manager SBICAP Ventures Limited, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) as well as other investors contributing the remaining amount.

It laid down 5-point criteria for the eligible: Stalled for lack of adequate funds; Affordable and Middle-Income category; Net worth positive projects including NPAs and projects undergoing NCLT proceedings; RERA registered; Priority for projects very close to completion.

The fund has achieved its first closing at Rs 10,500 crore but actual disbursements from the project have been minimal – about Rs 45 crore till date. It is essential that the fund be disbursed quickly to complete stuck projects.The chief constraint in the operationalisation of the fund is the rigidity in its mandate, wherein the existing lender (Banks/ NBFCs/HFCs/) is not being accommodated at all. Secondly, the AIF expects a return of about 12-15 percent on its investments in projects, which is very high given the fact that the projects in the ambit of the fund are "stalled". This high RoI leads to an increased in project cost, which eventually passes on to the already aggrieved homebuyer," CREDAI said in its letter to the Prime Minister on May 25.

Providing major relief to real estate developers during the coronavirus pandemic, the government earlier this month extended the timeline for project completions and registration of project timelines by six months. This is a big move that will de-stress developers significantly since construction activity had been halted all across the country. Homebuyers' wait for their homes will get extended by this move.

Realtors said while several steps have been taken by the government to boost liquidity, little has been done to incentivise home buyers to buy or improve confidence post-COVID-19.

"To boost demand, the government should reduce the maximum rate of interest on new home loans to 5 percent by subsidising interest component of EMIs for the next five years. It should raise the limit of principal deduction on housing loan under Section 80C to Rs 2.5 lakh and interest deduction under Section 24 to Rs 10 lakh and not levy capital gains for residential properties held for a period of longer than one year. It should also resume subvention-based funding," Credai said.

On the issue of Goods & Service Tax (GST), the builders' body comprising more than 15,000 members have said the current regime provides a rate of 1 percent for affordable housing (those costing Rs 45 lakh). It wants the benefit to be extended to units costing up to Rs 75 lakh in metros.

"There is an urgent need to reduce GST rates and stamp duty charges at least for the next six to nine months," said Gaurav Gupta, president, CREDAI-Ghaziabad, adding if this is done along with increasing the income tax exemption limit, the total savings accruing to homebuyers would be around Rs 5 lakh.

"That would certainly boost the demand among buyers during these trying times,” he said.

According to Piyush Gupta, Managing Director, Capital Markets, India,  Colliers International, even though the RBI has reduced interest rates, the borrowing rate for real estate developers continues to remain high.

"NBFCs are not being able to pass on the benefit to realtors due to their own set of problems such as balance sheet management issues and asset-liability issues. It is due to this that private funds continue to increase their cost of lending, which is now as high as 18 to 22 percent. It is now a demand-supply mismatch issue. The government should look at relaxing norms by which PSU banks and private banks can lend directly to the real estate sector," he said.

Also, while prices of units have on an average been reduced by 15-20 percent through direct or indirect incentives and affordability is much better, the government needs to take steps to boost the confidence of homebuyers to invest in a long-term asset, he said.

Reduction in transaction costs could also go a long way to boost demand.

"A reduction in GST for under-construction units and stamp duty albeit for a few months could help boost the confidence of buyers. It will help move inventory," he added.

Also, considering the fear factor associated with the spread of the virus in major cities and its satellite areas, labourers on construction sites in cities have been moving back to their native places due to which the construction sector is facing acute shortage of labour and projects in cities are likely to see a delay of over six months.

Stating that the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic is much worse than the 2008 global financial crisis, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi beseeching him to boost liquidity by reducing the rate of interest to 5 percent and introducing a scheme wherein homebuyers need to pay only the margin money upfront and no EMIs for 24 months.

It also demanded that the Rs 25,000 crore stress fund for completing stalled housing projects be deployed at the earliest.

The real estate developers’ body has proposed certain benefits for homebuyers to encourage investments in residential properties:
- Reduce the maximum rate of interest on new home loans to 5 percent by subsidising interest component of EMIs for the next five years.
- Raise limit of principal deduction on housing loan under Section 80C to Rs 2.5 lakh and interest deduction under Section 24 to Rs 10 lakh.
- No levy on capital gains for residential properties held for a period of longer than one year.

- Resume subvention-based funding.

It wants National Housing Bank and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to withdraw their circulars on subvention-based funding, with only safeguards being the acceptable rating of the developers and the project.

The economic uncertainty and job insecurity in the aftermath of COVID-19 may not encourage homebuyers to purchase property at this point in time. “A scheme whereby a homebuyer would need to pay only margin money with no EMI for 24 months will address this insecurity. Here, RBI may allow housing finance companies (HFCs) a 24-month subvention scheme to homebuyers via developers. This 24 months’ subvention can be adjusted by extending the loan tenure by 24 months with the subvention amount recovered in the last two months,” the CREDAI letter stated.

With regard to boosting liquidity, CREDAI said a one-time restructuring scheme as was permitted by RBI in 2008 may be quickly instituted by all lending institutions. “Since real estate was already reeling under a cyclical downturn before COVID-19, such restructuring needs to be allowed for all accounts which were standard as on December 31, 2019.”

To boost liquidity, it wants “appropriate directions may be issued to all banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), including HFCs, to institute a scheme to permit additional credit equal to 20 percent of existing real estate project-related advances with no additional security, if need be by extending government guarantees, without the classification of the project as a non-performing asset (NPA).”

It has also suggested that penal interest charged by banks and financial institutions should be suspended for a period of one-year or until such time as it takes for the pandemic to abate.

Steps should also be taken to control cartelisation of raw material for construction, CREDAI said. “Across various states, there has been an increase of Rs 100-250 per bag of cement and about Rs 2,000-2,500 per tonne of steel. This will lead to increase in construction costs and will have a cascading effect on homebuyers.”

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre if it was prepared to release an emergency loan of Rs 500 crore for funding stalled Amrapali group housing projects. The Centre said it would get back with a response by May 27, the next date of hearing in the case.

The Centre was also asked to consider a possible waiver of service tax chargeable on these projects.

Concern over funds drying up for construction came up before the apex court in a note prepared by Court-appointed receiver, senior advocate R Venkatraman, who suggested a slew of measures to ensure timely execution of the projects.

Among the measures he suggested in a five-page note was a direction to banks to release loans to homebuyers, even to non-performing asset (NPA) account holders, restructuring of existing loans by banks. Funds to complete the housing projects have to come from the sale of unsold housing inventories, sale of other Amrapali properties, and balance receivables on sold units from homebuyers who have taken loans, he said.

The bench of justices Arun Mishra and UU Lalit sought the response of the Centre on each suggestion in the note. Additional solicitor general (ASG) Vikramjeet Banerjee informed the bench that the finance ministry will be meeting over this issue in a day or two. He said that since this involves spending of public money, any exception in the rules to be made for Amrapali has to be accompanied with reasons.

The bench told ASG, “The homebuyers are suffering. [The] Government must take care of providing funds to the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) as there are no private players involved.”

NBCC informed the court that two projects undertaken by it were complete while tenders need to be issued on three projects. It was then that the court suggested ASG seek instructions from the government on issuing Rs 500 crore upfront to NBCC.

In addition, the court wished to know whether the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines will allow issuance of loans to NPA account holders based on the receiver’s suggestion. Venkatramani told the court that UCO Bank had in principle agreed to fund the unsold inventories, preferably through a consortium of banks.

Venkatramani told HT: “Some big players have expressed interest in completing the projects. But they require a strong assurance. The court’s tentative order is intended to provide strong support to NBCC before tenders for projects are issued in the coming months.”

The Goods and Services Tax payable by NBCC on construction and service tax deposited by home buyers, if waived, could save approximately Rs 1,000 crore, he added.

Advocate ML Lahoty, representing homebuyers, claimed that Rs 7881.60 crore was recoverable from sale of Amrapali Group’s properties and Rs 799 crore would accrue on behalf of the company’s erstwhile directors.

Earlier this week, the Uttar Pradesh RERA (UP RERA) allowed the homebuyers' association of a project in Noida to take charge of the completion of four stuck towers. It is currently in discussions with the original builder (Jaypee Associates) to come on board as a contractor.

The question here is: Can RERA Authority approach homebuyers' associations or the original developer or for that matter bring in a third party to complete a stalled project? Interestingly, RERA can take over an unfinished realty project if it is 80 percent complete. It can act as a facilitator and work with the committee of homebuyers to complete the project under Section 8 of RERA.

RERA authorities Moneycontrol spoke to said this could become a successful model to complete stuck projects going forward, especially after COVID-19, when there are bound to be more such cases wherein developers may not be in a position to complete projects due to lack of liquidity issues.

"This model of completing stuck real estate projects can work and will certainly be tested post-COVID-19 because we will have many more developers falling by the wayside. It is then that the authorities would have to empower homebuyers to come forward and take on the task of completing the stalled projects with the help of RERA Authority," MahaRERA Chairman Gautam Chatterjee told Moneycontrol.

"Prima-facie, this appears to be an excellent move and will also set a very good precedent. But it is also very important to know (a) how the project will be funded and (b) if the builder has taken more money than what work has been done by him and how RERA plans to recover excess money from him," said MS Shankar, General Secretary, Forum for People's Collective Efforts.

Section 8 of RERA empowers authorities to hand over completion task to buyers' association

The RERA Act clearly states that “Upon lapse of registration or on the revocation of registration under this Act, the Authority, may consult the appropriate government to take such action as it may deem fit including the carrying out of the remaining development works by a competent authority or by the association of allottees or in any other manner, as may be determined by the Authority.

Provided further that in case of revocation of registration of a project under this Act, the association of allottees shall have the first right of refusal for carrying out of the remaining development works," the Act said.

There are clear provisions in RERA under which the Authority also has the power to take away the project from a particular developer and assign it to another agency to complete it.

There could be cases wherein the promoters are in jail or absconding. In those circumstances, there may not be too many choices available to buyers. RERA too can pass multiple orders but that would not have any impact because there is no entity to return monies to buyers with interest. The other option with RERA is to seal the property but in this case, the property belongs to buyers who have been waiting for possession for years.

In such cases too, this model of handing over construction to buyers may work.