Over 4,500 real estate projects registered with the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) have lapsed as their completion deadline has expired. The list, accessed by Moneycontrol, shows at least 21 of the projects are being constructed by government agencies.
These 21 projects are being developed under the affordable housing scheme of the Maharashtra government as well as the Central government’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme.
The projects are located in cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Aurangabad. Several PMAY projects have also lapsed in the tier-3 town of Amravati. The list comprises of projects whose registration lapsed between 2017 and 2022 (up to March).
When is a real estate project declared lapsed?
Every real estate project that is registered by a developer with MahaRERA is given three to four years — considered a reasonable period — for completion. After completion, a registration number is issued for the project.
However, a project is termed as ‘lapsed’ when the timeline given for completion is not met and the developer has not applied for extension. Once the registration of a project is declared ‘lapsed’, the developer cannot advertise, market, book, sell or offer to sell, or invite persons to invest in these projects. Such projects cannot be registered by the registrar of the revenue department.
Project locations
According to the list on the MahaRERA website, of the 21 government projects with lapsed registrations, six are being constructed by the Amravati Municipal Corporation, while the rest are being constructed by several boards of the Maharashtra State Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).
Mumbai has the highest number — eight — of lapsed government projects being constructed. These projects are in areas around Goregaon, Wadala, Powai, Malad and Borivali. Six projects are in Amravati district, and three are in Pune district, while Jalgaon, Aurangabad, Nagpur and the Kalyan area of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) have one each.
What the authorities are saying
According to officials, there are no allottees or buyers involved in these projects given that government agencies take bookings after an occupation certificate (OC) is issued by the local authorities.
“I am aware of one project that is not fully completed. We are going to communicate regarding it with MahaRERA. The only pending thing is OC in this project as we have not got a water connection yet and some road work is pending due to which the OC is stuck. It will be resolved in the coming months and homes from this project will also be sold in the upcoming lotteries of affordable homes,” said Nitin Mahajan, Chief Officer of MHADA’s Konkan Board.
A senior MahaRERA official, who did not want to be named, told Moneycontrol: “In the case of real estate projects of government agencies that have lapsed, there is no suffering for any homebuyers. This is because booking happens only after the OC is received, and hence they are not a worry. We will handle them separately.”
Starting July 25, MahaRERA will issue suo-motu notices to developers of lapsed real estate projects in Maharashtra, most of which are in Pune and Mumbai. Initially, projects where the developer has 50% or more bookings but there is zero work on the ground will get notices.
Neither Anil Diggikar, CEO and Vice-President of MHADA, nor officials from the Amravati Municipal Corporation could be reached for a comment.
Types of lapsed projects
Out of the total 21 projects that have lapsed, 11 were registered as ongoing projects when RERA came into existence in May 2017, while the remaining 10 were registered as new projects.
The list of new projects that have lapsed are all from 2021 and 2022. Registration of the remaining 11 projects lapsed between 2017 and 2020.
List of projects
The lapsed projects include affordable homes being constructed by the Mumbai Board of MHADA in Goregaon, a western region suburb. The deadline for this project was December 31, 2017.
Others include affordable homes being constructed by the Pune Board of MHADA in Kolhapur district, which had a June 30, 2018 deadline; similar homes are being constructed by the Nagpur Board of MHADA in Nagpur city with a July 31, 2018 deadline; and by the Mumbai Board of MHADA in Wadala, with an October 30, 2019 deadline.
The lapsed projects also include affordable homes being constructed by the Mumbai Board of MHADA in Goregaon, Kurla and Powai, with a 2019 deadline. The deadline for similar projects in Andheri and Malad lapsed in 2020. There are similar projects in Pune, Jalgaon, Jalna, Sangli, Amravati district and in Kalyan Taluka in MMR.
