Bihar’s Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) is set to auction the confiscated land of Agrani Homes Private Limited to refund homebuyers who were victims of the builder’s failure to complete a real estate project. The land, located in Dhawalpura locality of Patna, was seized in April 2023 after Agrani Homes failed to repay homebuyers who had paid for properties in an incomplete project.
This marks the first time that RERA Bihar has taken such an action under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, to safeguard the interests of homebuyers. The auction, scheduled for December 16, will involve 85.6 decimal of land, with a minimum bid price set at ₹5.17 crore. A Bihar RERA official explained that the auction proceeds will be distributed among the aggrieved homebuyers who had filed complaints against Agrani Homes. These buyers had sought refunds for their investments after the builder’s failure to deliver promised properties.
This action is part of a larger process in which homebuyers approached Bihar RERA with their grievances. After orders were passed in complaint cases and execution cases, Agrani Homes still failed to comply, prompting RERA to escalate the matter under the Public Demand Recovery Act. Subsequently, the Patna district administration began the process of recovering funds by auctioning the confiscated land. Bihar RERA has also established a Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) to ensure the proper distribution of the auction proceeds. This case sets a significant precedent for the enforcement of homebuyers’ rights and the accountability of builders under the Real Estate Regulatory Act in the state. By auctioning the land, Bihar RERA is taking a proactive step to address the increasing concerns of fraudulent builders and delayed projects, offering a model for other regions grappling with similar challenges in the real estate sector.
