Noida: Lotus Panache buyers take 600 flats to finish line

NOIDA: While the insolvency resolution process is still on, proactive efforts by homebuyers and the resolution professional (RP) will soon bear fruit – in the form of 600 ready flats at Lotus Panache.

The houses at Panache in Sector 110 are to be completed by August. Construction of the flats commenced last year with the permission of the RP, who came on board to oversee the construction process.

The buyers have put in their own pending dues to execute the construction. Jaipuria group, which is the selected resolution applicant, is working in the capacity of a construction company to do the job. In this first phase of the homebuyer-driven construction, there are still 100 more houses which will be completed over the coming months, resolution professional Chandra Prakash said.

Panache is a project held by debt-ridden Granite Gate, a subsidiary of the 3C company. Insolvency proceedings of Granite Gate began in January 2019. Chandra Prakash told TOI, “The resolution process has been stalled asNoida Authority has appealed for the status of financial creditor in place of operational creditor as it was designated at the start of resolution. The case is being heard at the principal bench of NCLT, New Delhi and we have requested that it should be heard on an urgent basis. However, construction work has not stopped, and after this first phase, the next round of construction will start. We are working on the modalities.”

The RP invoked Section 20 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to engage a contractor to complete seven of the 19 pending towers at Panache. The 7 towers have approximately 700 flats. The total pending flats at Panache were around 3,000.

The lawyer representing the Lotus Panache Welfare Association, Sahil Sethi, said, “IBC allows the IRP to run the company as an ongoing concern. Being a real estate company, running it as a concern means carrying on construction. Also, in this case, the RP has issued the work order after explicit voting and approval of the committee of creditors. It is good to see the buyers getting their flats.”

Amit Chauhan, president of the Lotus Panache Welfare Association (LPWA), a residents’ group which is facilitating the construction work, said, “The first phase of construction in the pool and build model required Rs 70 crore, which the buyers funded themselves. But the second phase will require around Rs 140 crore for which there may be a requirement for interim finance. The second phase will have 1,200 flats that are likely to be completed by the end of 2022.”