CAG questions Noida over 20 builder projects

NOIDA: The Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) team seems to have finally started tightening its noose around Noida Authority, as it has sought an explanation regarding allotment of plots for 20 builder projects within a month.

The Authority CEO met all concerned departments on Wednesday and ordered that the replies must be sent on time.

In fact, the CAG team has submitted about five pages of queries for every project, indicating that rules were bent for allocation of all these projects between 2005 and 2015. Most of these projects are of group housing societies. The CAG team has been conducting an audit of Noida Authority’s projects for the past one and a half years and was seeking documents till now.

“The queries mention that in some cases the Authority took 10% instead of the requisite 30% from the developers for allotment of plots. Some other builders have still not fulfilled all terms of their contract, over 10 years since the allotment was made to them,” said a Noida Authority official.

Officials said these projects in question include four projects by one particular big builder and three other big builders have also been named. More queries are expected to line up as the CAG team goes through other project details. The CAG has allegedly raised queries on how several builders are on defaulters’ list despite heavy discounts offered and why the Authority hasn’t taken any action against these groups yet. The defaulters owe over Rs 20,000 crore to the Authority, which mostly include builders of group housing societies.

Source : The Times of India