Spread over 123 acres, the Prideasia project is an integral part of the Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park. A joint venture between Parsvnath and the Chandigarh Housing Board, it ran into rough weather last year when the Chandigarh Administration failed to clear a few of the building plans of the site. Parsvnath had bagged the project by quoting the highest bid of Rs 821 crore. While Parsvnath had already deposited Rs 517 crore in an Escrow account, jointly operated by CHB and Parsvnath, the pending Rs 321 crore was yet to be deposited when CHB freezed the account asking the developer to clear payments.

Meanwhile, the Central Vigilance Commission has announced a probe in the project and summoned the records pertaining to its allotment and conceptualisation.

Tailpiece: a senior UT Administration official confirmed that work on the site is stalled on the CVC’s directive but Jain contended that the work is still on but at a “very slow pace — all thanks to the Chandigarh Administration”.

The agreement

The Prideasia project has a saleable residential area of 38.5 lakh square feet, a commercial area of 2.7 lakh square feet, a club, sports centre and a water sports complex of 2 lakh square feet. Various banks and the company’s marketing wing were jointly selling the dwelling units and the amount was being collected in an Escrow account. While 30 per cent of the gross receipts from the residential segment were to go to the Chandigarh Housing Board, the rest (70 per cent) was to go to Parsvnath. The sale-proceeds and realisations from segments other than the residential area were to go entirely to the developer. The global meltdown, the CVC probe and the rift between the Chandigarh Administration and the developer played an important role in discouraging investors, who opted for withdrawal of their deposits. Around 60 per cent of the investors, who had booked units at the Prideasia project, have already come forward looking for a refund of their booking amounts.