Tainted IVRCL was blacklisted in Noida, Assam & J’khand too

After the tragic incident of an under-construction flyover collapsing in Kolkata that cost 24 lives, more skeletons are tumbling out from the closets of the contractor firm IVRCL throughout the country including from the National Capital Region (NCR).

A close look into the Hyderabad-based IVRCL’s subsidiary concerns reveals that the group is a ‘defaulter’ in three cases of land allotment in Noida — two group housings and an institutional allotment. The group is facing a minimum of Rs 223 crore outstanding and is a declared defaulter in the records of Noida Authority besides a blacklisted company by Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam in the state.

As per the authority’s records, the company was allotted a land measuring 1,46,967 sqm in Sector 118 in April 2017 for group housing project but the company, IVR Prime Developers, failed to execute projects while the land remains unused. The company, which purchased land at the rate of Rs 17,050 per sqm, did not pay a big chunk of the amount to the local authority. Similarly, another piece of land measuring 75,594 sqm was allotted in Sector 119 in October 2006. The authority gave this land to IVRCL at the rate of Rs 14,440 per sqm, but no project was announced by this company and it has been revealed that a whopping Rs 163 crore for these two allotments are still due. Besides this, the authority had allotted 1,00,000 sqm land in Sector 144 in 2006 to IVRCL Infrastructure &Projects Limited. The company not only failed to pay Rs 63 crore due but have reportedly given the land to another private builder for group housing project.

A visit to the site by Millennium Post also ascertained the allegation as hoardings/booking offices of a private real estate firm with a group housing project was very much visible there. Notably, transfer/change of land use is possible by the Authority in specific cases only, but it has appeared that no such formality has been made in this particular case.

The authority sources claimed that the company, which has been declared a defaulter for not making payment even after 10 years of allotments, avoids cancellations through re-scheduling process. “The company has failed to use lands accordingly but has still possessed them. It has managed its irregularities as a few officials help them indirectly,” said a source. It has also been also revealed that the UP Jal Nigam, in 2009, had blacklisted the infrastructure development company for alleged laxity in maintaining the quality of materials used in drinking water and sewerage projects in Allahabad and Kanpur respectively. 

IVRCL was reportedly blacklisted in 2015 by the Jharkhand government too after facing charges of alleged financial irregularities in execution of a rural electrification project. The company had, in 2009, come under fire for alleged negligent working conditions, which had led to the death of two workers at one of its sites in Hyderabad.