Yeida to float tenders to hire builder to finish delayed Sports City projects

The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) on Monday said it will soon issue a request for proposal (RFP) to invite bids from real estate developers to complete and deliver 10 pending housing projects in the 1,000-hectare Sports City along the Yamuna Expressway.

The move follows a Supreme Court notice to Yeida on a plea filed by the resolution professional (RP) of Jaiprakash Associates Limited (JAL), challenging an Allahabad high court order that cancelled JAL’s land allotment and transferred it to Yeida. The court, however, refused to stay the high court’s 10 March order and listed the matter for further hearing on May 13.

The high court had directed the Uttar Pradesh government and Yeida to safeguard the interests of roughly 2,100 homebuyers after JAL failed to deliver the project over the past 15 years.

Yeida had originally allotted the land in 2008 for a special development zone centred around sports. JAL was to build a cricket stadium, an F1 track, housing and commercial projects. However, the company failed to deliver and later entered insolvency proceedings.

“According to the high court’s directive, we have nearly finalised the RFP and expect to invite proposals within three weeks,” said Arun Vir Singh, Yeida’s chief executive officer. “The selected firm will complete the housing and sports infrastructure. Our aim is to protect homebuyers’ interests,” he said.

The high court had also upheld the land cancellation after JAL failed to clear dues of ₹3,621 crore despite repeated notices. Yeida had cancelled the allotment in February 2020. JAL claimed it had paid over 91% of the ₹2,300 crore due, with the rest cleared during court proceedings.

Yeida said JAL collected ₹1,900.78 crore from homebuyers but failed to complete projects such as Country Homes I & II, Krowns, Greencrest Homes, Bougainvilleas, Villa Expanza, Sportsville, Kassia, Kove and Budh Circuit Studios.

“Despite collecting over ₹1,900 crore, the firm didn’t deliver homes. We now plan to raise funds by selling 662.5 acres of unutilised land, valued at ₹1 lakh per sqm. This will make the project economically viable,” said Singh.

JAL also failed to build the promised sports facilities, including a cricket stadium, sports academy, healthcare centre, hockey and football stadiums, tennis courts, and more.

“We plan to engage the BCCI, Indian Olympic Association, and other agencies to develop international-level infrastructure. The UP government and Yeida had allotted the land so that the realty firm could develop these facilities for the public but nothing happened on the ground. Now, we will fulfil that mandate,” Singh added.