Builders say that because of the stop work at construction sites because of coronavirus their projects will be delayed. They are hopeful MahaRERA won’t penalize them for the delay.
By Varun Singh
Builders at most of the construction site have stopped work because of coronavirus. The lockdown has forced a literal stop work too.
“To support the government decision we have kept all our construction and sales sites closed along with our city and regional offices advising all Omkarites to stay at home,” said Devang Varma, Promoter, Omkar Realtors & Developers said.
Varma is not alone many developers have decided to close the construction sites.
According to data from MahaRERA website, of the total 25,356 real estate projects seeking registration with MahaRERA, 25,060 projects were registered and 5,280 projects are completed. The projects that aren’t completed are ongoing and are in different phases of construction.
Anand Gupta, spokesperson, Builders Association of India says, “The lockdown has had a serious impact. Projects are going to be delayed. We are hopeful that this delay will be considered as part of Force Majeure, (where people are unable to fulfill a contract because of unforeseen circumstances) and we aren’t penalized by MahaRERA.”
Many developers have even delayed their new launches during Gudi padwa. “We have postponed our Gudi Padwa launch and all our campaigns too. All our site offices will also remain closed. We will have to together support our Government in this time of distress,” said Subodh Runwal, Director, Runwal Group.
Some builders have even gone for digital launches of new projects. They still do not want to miss the festive season.
“Considering the festive mood for Gudi Padwa, we were going to launch a new project at Andheri East. Earlier there was to be a physical launch with channel partners and brokers but now due to the Covid-19 situation, we will be conducting a digital launch where we will accept requests from customers online. To avoid crowd gathering, we will give time slots to the customers once the impact of this virus settles down,” said Anuj Khetan, Director, Vijay Khetan Group.
A normal mathematics according to Gupta, says that if a construction site see no work for a month then the project will be delayed by one and half months time. This includes calling back the construction workers and getting construction materials.
