NEW DELHI: Realty firm Supertech Ltd, which incurred a loss of about Rs 500 crore from the demolition of its twin towers, wants to develop a new housing project at the same place and it will seek refund of land cost and other expenses if authorities do not approve the plan, its Chairman R K Arora said.
The nearly 100-metre-tall twin towers -- Apex and Ceyane -- were demolished at 2.30 pm on August 28 as per a Supreme Court order that found their construction within Emerald Court premises in violation of norms.
More than 3,700 kg of explosives were used in this operation.
After the debris gets cleared from the site, Arora said the company will submit a proposal before the Noida development authority to develop a housing project and also take consent of RWA of Emerald Court, if needed.
"We were allotted 14 acre of land by Noida authority in Noida Sector 93 A for the development of the group housing project. Out of the total land parcel, the twin towers were built on 2 acre land."
"Now the twin towers have been demolished, we will submit a plan to develop a group housing project on the 2 acre land which is owned by the company," he told PTI.
Asked how hopeful the company is to get approval, Arora said the company will definitely put up a plan and then it is up to the authority.
"We will also take consent of RWA of Emerald Court if required," he said.
When asked about the RWA's plan to build temple on the land, Arora said: "The RWA should own the land to develop anything. Land is owned by us."
The chairman said the 2-acre land does not fall under green area.
In case the permission to develop a housing project is not granted, he said Supertech will seek refund of land cost from the authority.
"The land cost at present rate should be around Rs 80 crore. We had also paid around Rs 25 crore for the purchase of extra FAR (floor area ratio) in this project," Arora said.
On the damage to the Supertech brand from the demolition, Arora said its definitely a setback but reiterated that the company had developed the twin towers as the building plan approved by the Noida authority and no deviation were made.
Asked whether the company is facing difficulty in raising fund and in sales, Arora said the company has been convincing its customers as well as financial institutions that the demolition would not impact its other projects.
"We have completed and given delivery of more than 70,000 units to homebuyers since inception and are committed to give delivery to remaining 20,000 homebuyers over the next two years," Arora said.
On August 28, Arora had told PTI that the company suffered a loss of about Rs 500 crore, including construction and interest costs, because of the demolition of its twin towers in Noida.
"Our overall loss is around Rs 500 crore, taking into account the amount we have spent on land and construction cost, the charges paid to authorities for various approvals, interest paid to banks over the years and the 12 per cent interest paid back to buyers of these two towers, among other costs," he had said.
The total built up area in these two towers was around 8 lakh square feet.
"We constructed these towers as per the building plan approved by the Noida development authority," he added.
According to property consultant Anarock's Vice Chairman Santhosh Kumar, the current value of over 900 apartments in these two towers would be over Rs 700 crore.
The two towers, which were launched in 2009, comprised 1 BHK studio apartments as well as 2 and 3 BHK flats in the size range of 1,050-1,475 square feet.
Anarock said the project was launched at Rs 3,200 per square feet.
The price was revised to Rs 5,200 per square feet in 2012 when the number of floors was increased to 40.
Kumar said the current market rate of apartment at this location is Rs 8,500-9,500 per square feet.
In August last year, the Supreme Court had ordered demolition of the twin towers and directed that the entire amount of homebuyers has to be refunded with 12 per cent interest from the time of the booking.
The apex court also ordered that the Residents Welfare Association be paid Rs 2 crore for the harassment caused due to the construction of the twin towers.
The court had said the construction of Supertech's twin 40-storey towers having 915 flats and 21 shops was done in collusion with the Noida Authority.
Nine years after a residents' association went to court over the illegally built Supertech twin towers, a series of controlled explosions reduced the 100-metre tall structures to a huge pile of rubble -- watched by thousands from surrounding rooftops and lakhs on live television.
Apex (32 storeys) and Ceyane (29 storeys) were gone in 12 seconds, in the carefully choreographed and meticulously executed demolition, the biggest such exercise in the country so far.
Residents of Emerald Court housing society here on Saturday said they would object to any attempt by builder Supertech Group to construct another housing tower at the spot where the illegal twin towers existed and would move court once again, if needed.
Their response came after the real estate group, which incurred an estimated loss of about Rs 500 crore from the demolition of its twin towers, said it wanted to develop a new housing project at the same place and would seek refund of land cost and other expenses if the local authorities did not approve the plan.
The nearly 100-metre-tall twin towers -- Apex and Ceyane -- were demolished on August 28 in compliance with a landmark Supreme Court order that found their construction within Emerald Court premises in violation of norms.
"Of course we are going to object to any such attempt by the builder. We will move court also, if needed," Uday Bhan Singh Teotia, the president of Emerald Court's residents' association, told PTI.
"The twin towers had come up illegally in an area within our society premises which was earmarked for a green space. No doubt, now we are going to have a park over there. There are also some suggestions from several residents for constructing a temple there but for that we are going to hold a meeting of all residents of the society in some days and a decision will be taken accordingly," Teotia, 82, one of the earliest petitioners in the landmark case, said.
Rajesh Rana, 62, a former president of the residents' group, said it was an irresponsible statement to make on the part of the builder and appears to be challenging the apex court's verdict.
"The Supreme Court declared those buildings as illegal and now you say you are going to make another housing complex. Just imagine how the Supreme Could will take it! The learned judges. Have given a verdict, a historic verdict, first time in the country. If you want to challenge it in media, I think it is not fair on his (builder's) part. It's a very serious matter," he said.
Meanwhile, Rana, who lives in Aster 2 tower -- which was just nine metres away from the now-demolished Apex building of the twin towers, said it felt good for residents to finally have a view and ventilation.
"It now feels like heaven," he said.
Earlier, Supertech's chairman R K Arora said once the debris was cleared from the twin towers site, his company would submit a proposal before the Noida Authority to develop a housing project and also take consent of RWA of Emerald Court, if needed.
"We were allotted 14 acres of land by the Noida Authority in Noida Sector 93 A for the development of the group housing project.
Out of the total land parcel, the twin towers were built on 2 acres land, he said.
"Now the twin towers have been demolished, we will submit a plan to develop a group housing project on the 2-acre land which is owned by the company," he told PTI.
Re Sustainability on Saturday said it is likely to start recycling of 30,000 tonne of waste generated from the demolition of Supertech's twin towers from next week.
The company has bagged the contract from Noida Authority to recycle waste generated from the demolition of Supertech's twin towers over the next three months.
The waste will be converted into construction materials.
Total waste generated from the demolition is estimated at 80,000 tonnes.
The twin towers, nearly 100 metres tall, were demolished on Sunday.
More than 3,700 kilograms of explosives were used in the operation.
Nearly Rs 20 crore were spent to demolish the twin towers, although the Supertech said it suffered a Rs 500 crore loss in the development of these two towers.
"We have got the mandate to recycle 30,000 tonnes of waste into construction materials like sand, aggrgators and tiles," Re Sustainability CEO Masood Mallick told reporters here.
He said the company is likely to start recycling work next week and it will take 3 months to complete the process.
Re Sustainability will get Rs 156 per tonne from the authority to complete the work order.
"We are targeting to achieve 100 per cent recycling of this 30,000 tonnes of waste. We will convert waste into 9,000 tonnes of sand (fine and coarse), 18,000 tonnes of aggregator of 10 mm, 20 mm and 40 mm sizes," Mallick said, adding that the remaining 3,000 tonnes would be tiles and paver blocks.
The company has not been engaged for transportation of waste from twin towers site to its plant at Sector 80, Noida, he said, the waste materials will be delivered at the factory by Noida authority.
Mallick said the recycled construction materials are sold at discount in the market.
Re Sustainability Ltd (RE), a KKR-backed company, offers a whole gamut of environmental services and infrastructure solutions under various categories such as waste management -- hazardous, municipal and biomedical, construction waste and e-waste; waste to energy; recycling -- wastewater, paper, plastic, and integrated waste; environmental solutions; automated car park management and facilities management.