NOIDA: An audit conducted by the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) has uncovered significant irregularities and policy violations by the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) in the allotment of group housing and builder plots from 2005-06 to 2017-18.
The audit report, released on Wednesday—coinciding with the Supreme Court’s directive to the UP government to consider transforming the Noida Authority into a metropolitan council for improved fairness and transparency—highlights lapses over the years that have contributed to the ongoing real estate crisis in Noida’s twin city. Thousands of flats are considerably delayed, while registries are held up due to skyrocketing dues owed by developers, and several projects are facing bankruptcy proceedings in court.
The CAG’s findings indicate that GNIDA, instead of fulfilling its mandate under the Uttar Pradesh Industrial Area Development Act of 1976 to develop an industrial township, shifted its focus to creating a residential township. Despite clear instances of breaches, GNIDA failed to take action against defaulting builders or its own officials, which the report referred to as “serious lapses in probity, integrity, and ethics in governance.”
Data shows that from 2005-06 to 2014-15, GNIDA allocated 94 builder and group housing plots, later subdivided into 186 plots covering 2,017 acres. By April 2021, 148 out of the 186 projects were expected to be completed, but only 27 were finished, with 95 delayed—some by as much as eight years.
The audit revealed a consistent trend: allotments granted to bidders lacking technical qualifications, land awarded to defaulters from previous projects, and bid evaluation processes that compromised fair competition.
The CAG noted, “Essential conditions designed to protect the interests of GNIDA and homebuyers were either omitted from or excluded from the successive scheme brochures.” These decisions led to project delays and GNIDA’s failure to maintain the trust of homebuyers regarding timely project completions and sub-leases.
