The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned NBCC India Ltd’s handling of 16 stalled Supertech housing projects, proposing the idea of appointing an independent receiver to oversee the completion of projects after homebuyers alleged that more than ₹30 crore had been spent on project management since December 2024 without a single tender being issued.
The projects, spread across Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Karnataka, involve nearly 50,000 housing units.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said: “We have realised nothing is happening. Either we dissolve the committee and appoint a receiver as we did in the Amrapali or Unitech matters, where the government constituted a board of directors in public interest to construct the stalled projects.”
A receiver is a neutral third party appointed by a court to manage property or business interests involved in a dispute or financial distress.
Representing homebuyers, senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy told the court that NBCC, appointed as project management consultant (PMC) by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in December 2024, had yet to issue tenders for the projects despite spending more than ₹30 crore on hiring.
The bench, also comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, said the proposed arrangement must not impose any additional financial burden on homebuyers. “We are aware of it. There was reasonable progress in the Unitech matter. That kind of model can also work. What we propose to do is to appoint a receiver,” the bench said.
Currently, an Apex Court Committee (ACC) is overseeing the matter regarding the stalled projects. This committee is headed by former Supreme Court judge — justice (retd) Krishna Murari — and also comprises representatives of financial institutions, NBCC and real estate experts.
NBCC, represented by attorney general R Venkataramani, informed the court that the company had issued a tender for one project and was processing tenders for the remaining ones. Construction would begin next year, he said. NBCC has also filed a separate petition seeking exemptions under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) to facilitate completion of the insolvency-ridden projects.
In May, NCLAT rejected NBCC’s request for a RERA exemption and its plea to increase fees on the sale of unfinished flats.
Guruswamy opposed the proposed exemption, arguing that it would leave homebuyers without a remedy. She also told the court that the ACC had rejected a proposal from a construction firm to complete the projects. A former Supertech director had also approached the committee with a financier willing to provide funds, but the proposal was rejected over concerns about high interest rates, she said.
The bench invited all stakeholders to submit proposals by the next hearing on November 16.
The court requested Venkataramani to propose names for a court receiver. “If we find that the financier is above board, we will disband the committee and allow the work to be undertaken under an independent court receiver and the PMC may or may not be NBCC,” it said.
Also Read: Work at 16 stalled Supertech projects to begin from January 2027: SC panel
SC says will not permit homebuyers to be burdened further
The court said that it will not permit homebuyers to be burdened further as it cited unsold inventory and vacant plots of land within the projects as sources of generating funds for completing the stalled construction work.
While taking over the 16 projects, NBCC had sought a separate 1% marketing fee over and above the 8% PMC fee as a condition for undertaking the work. However, the NCLAT order restructured the fee-matrix as a consolidated 8% (7% PMC + 1% marketing), which, according to NBCC, undermined project viability and disincentivised the implementing agency.
