Greater Noida development body to operate gondolas at Venice mall to recover dues

GREATER NOIDA: To recover land allotment dues from developers, the district administration has decided to monetise the operational assets of defaulters. To start with, the administration will take over the operations of the gondola rides in Greater Noida’s Grand Venice mall.

A big draw for the visitors, the gondola rides have been discontinued since the first wave of the pandemic. Officials, however, said that the money collected through the gondola rides once the facility becomes operational will be used to settle the dues of the Greater Noida Authority.

Situated close to Pari Chowk, several recovery notices have been issued to the developers of the mall — Mist Direct Sales Private Limited and the Bhasin Group. Apart from UP-Rera and the Greater Noida Authority, the two companies are also facing proceedings initiated by financial institutions and banks.

Additional DM (finance and revenue) Vandita Srivastava told TOI, “We realised that the gondola rides are being operated by one of the companies, which has to settle the dues. Despite reminders, nobody has come forward to pay up the amount. Hence, we made a decision to take over the operations of the gondola rides.”

Sources revealed that action against the companies have also been initiated under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act.

Entertainment officer of the district, JP Chand said, “We have got the order. At the moment no rides are being operated in the mall. Once the operations start, we will collect the revenue and forward it to the administration. Meanwhile, the old records and financial statements will be sought to determine how much income was generated through the rides in a month.”

The owner of the mall was arrested in December 2020 by the UP Police allegedly for duping investors. Though no one picked up the numbers mentioned on the website of the mall, an executive working at the mall said, “We cannot comment on the issue as we do not have any details about the same. Legal options could be evaluated once the administrative order is examined.”