noida the supreme courts recall on monday of its 2020 judgment allowing developers to repay their legacy land dues at 8 in line with sbis mclr marginal cost of lending rate clears the decks for the development authorities in gautam budh nagar noida and greater noida to initiate measures to realise nearly rs 39500 crore in dues that real estate developers have accrued over the yearssenior officers said the two development authorities would have to between them forgo nearly 50 of this amount had the supreme court not recalled its order the officers pegged the amount that was at stake going by current calculation of dues at rs 19301 crore in the total dues the noida authoritys share alone is rs 26000 croreeven if we separate the liabilities of unitech amrapali and other projects that are subjudice in the supreme court rs 5860 crore of noida authority and rs 3838 crore of the greater noida industrial development authority have been secured by the scs recall said an officerthe recall was a big setback for developers who were banking on a significant reduction of dues and had stopped payments in the meantime however it brings clarity to noidas troubled real estate sector which has seen some of the countrys biggest defaulters over the yearsin 2020 after the ace group filed an interlocutory application in the amrapali case the supreme court had instructed the noida and greater noida authorities to calculate liabilities of developers by levying interest on the basis of sbi mclr rates instead of the rate mentioned in lease documents for land allotted to developers the noida and greater noida authorities challenged this order and sought its recallaccording to the lease deed developers were required to pay 115 compounding interest for nonpayment of instalments the authorities also levied a penal interest of 3 on the defaulted amount from developersthe accumulation of dues and the deadlock between developers and the development authorities manifested mainly in three ways scores of unfinished projects for which realtors claimed to have run out of funds and sought interest relief incomplete amenities at societies many builders handed over citing the same cash stress and thousands of flat owners failing to register their homes with builders not clearing their dues and the authorities holding back occupancy certificateswhile the recall brings no immediate relief to buyers itll give aoas and rwas the clarity to pursue a redress mechanism the developers argument was that stiff penal interest rates charged by noida and greater noida had led to dues snowballing and the interest component had in several cases far exceeded the principal amount noidas policy of allotting land for a small upfront payment and the rest in instalments led to large land parcels being allotted in the 2000s and early 2010s many of the developers defaulted on the emis which began the cycle of dues noida itself was heavily criticised by the comptroller and auditor general for this policy in an audit report that was tabled last