Hyderabad: Flat owners of Excelsior Apartments, at Boulder Hills, have been caught in a tussle between developers Emaar MGF and the erstwhile AP government. Over 200 owners, who have already made payments, are suffering due to lack of progress, though both the High Court the CBI have cleared the purchases as “being above board”.
“A group of residents were offered to invest in what promised to be a world-class community of 350 apartments overlooking a championship golf course. The builders were globally reputed and the project also had the backing of the state government — both factors indicating that it was a safe investment,” said the members of the Excelsior Owners’ Association.
The bookings for the project began in 2008 and a large number of people, mostly NRIs, invested in it. However, almost eight years later, the project is yet to kick off and the apartments that were supposed to be ready by 2011 are far from completion.
Owners, who feel cheated, have requested the new TS government to resume construction and restore the city’s image. The TS government is yet to address the issue.
“This is not just a dispute between builders and owners. It is an opportunity to build Brand Hyderabad. This project has been damaging to the image of Hyderabad as hundreds of us have invested our hard-earned money into this and we are yet to see the project take off,” said Raghina Bathina, president, Excelsior Owners Welfare Association.
According to the owners, the project was well on course till there was a conflict between the developers and the AP government, with the government alleging that villas were sold at a lesser price than what was agreed upon and that it had lost revenue. The government placed a ban on registrations and ordered a CBI enquiry and the builders then stopped all construction activity.
The CBI investigation has been completed and the AP High Court has given a verdict on the issue. Though both CBI and the HC have sided with the owners, the project is still on hold.
“The project seems to have slipped into a state of limbo notwithstanding the fact that the AP High Court and the CBI inquiry have given a clean chit to the Excelsior part of the project,” said the association. It added, “The Excelsior project represents only 2.6 per cent of the total Boulder Hills project. As many as 200 buyers have been suffering for five years for no fault of theirs. The CBI has also reported that the 2.6 per cent represented by the Excelsior Apartments were purchased transparently.”
“This was my life’s savings and hard-earned money. I was very happy to own a decent place in my homeland. Now you cannot trust any builder no matter how reliable he appears. I will never invest in Hyderabad again,” said Mohammmed Khalid, an owner from Riyadh.
