The Enforcement Directorate is examining the Purab Premium Apartments project in Sector 88 of SAS Nagar Mohali developed by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority, GMADA.
The scrutiny follows reports of financial discrepancies in the government housing scheme that was conceived in 2011 launched in 2013 and completed only in 2024 after years of delays.
According to a report published on October 30 2026 the central issue under attention is a suspected excess payment of 51.33 crore rupees to the original contractor Simplex Infrastructure Limited. An internal assessment by GMADA found that the work executed by Simplex was valued at 718.79 crore rupees. Of this 65.44 crore rupees was assessed as defective. After deducting the defective portion the payable amount came to 653.35 crore rupees. Simplex had already received 704.68 crore rupees leaving a difference of 51.33 crore rupees.
The project originally involved 1620 apartments across 27 residential towers. Each tower was designed to have 60 flats in three categories known as Type I Type II and Type III. The construction contract was awarded to Simplex Infrastructure on May 3 2013 for an original value of 715.50 crore rupees. The initial completion deadline was set for August 2015. The deadline was extended five times and finally fixed for June 30 2024. Completion certificates were issued on October 18 2024.
Project costs were revised three times. In May 2015 the cost stood at 725.60 crore rupees. In April 2018 it rose to 732.89 crore rupees. By March 2020 the figure reached 733.68 crore rupees. The difference between the original contract and the March 2020 revision was 18.18 crore rupees.
Simplex Infrastructure reportedly withdrew its staff from the project site on March 23 2020. The formal termination of its contract took place only on December 27 2021 nearly 21 months later. In the intervening period GMADA engaged another contractor. On July 5 2021 the authority issued an allotment letter to Deepak Builders for balance and defective works. The original value of this contract was 72.53 crore rupees with a stipulated completion period of six months. In March 2022 the contract value was increased to 118.53 crore rupees an increase of 46 crore rupees or about 63 percent. Five extensions were granted and the final deadline was pushed to June 30 2024.
The pre-final bill for civil works has been paid but the final bill remained pending over non-schedule rates. Final bills for electrical public health and horticulture works were also to be obtained from the relevant wings of GMADA.
The project had come under the scrutiny of the Punjab Vigilance Bureau much earlier. In November 2020 residents complained about construction quality and the alleged use of substandard materials. In 2023 the Vigilance Bureau recommended registration of a first information report against certain senior officials after examining financial losses identified through GMADA’s internal inquiry.
The Bureau sought approval under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act to proceed against 1992-batch IAS officer Sarvjit Singh who was GMADA’s chief administrator when the project was conceived and other officials including then estate officer Mahesh Bansal.
The Vigilance findings pointed to several issues. A mandatory market survey was allegedly not conducted. Questions were raised about the selection and suitability of the architect. The architect reportedly did not inspect ongoing work. Approximately 5.29 lakh rupees was paid to the architect without the required tendering process according to the findings. About 30 crore rupees was paid as compensation to allottees for delayed possession. Around 500 flats remained unsold at the time of the inquiry. The cooperative society that was supposed to maintain the housing complex was not formed.
The scheme had promised possession within 36 months from the draw of lots which took place on March 19 2012. The original promised possession date worked out to March 2015. The prolonged delay led to compensation payments of nearly 30 crore rupees.
In May 2025 GMADA initiated an e-auction of 227 unsold flats. Reserve prices were fixed at 1.12 crore rupees for three-bedroom units 89 lakh rupees for two-bedroom units and 60 lakh rupees for one-bedroom units. By that time 1115 flats had been allotted including 167 earmarked for government employees out of the total 1620 apartments. A separate report in May 2025 noted that the e-auction proceeded even though the project reportedly lacked a fire safety no-objection certificate.
Environmental issues also came up. The Purab Premium Apartments Allottees Association filed a case before the National Green Tribunal in Original Application number 493 of 2023. Complaints related to the sewage treatment plant drinking water supply rainwater harvesting solid-waste management and compliance with environmental clearance conditions. A joint committee examined the project and submitted a report on January 22 2024. The Punjab Pollution Control Board was directed to assess the extent of violations.
The project had received environmental clearance from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority Punjab through a letter dated February 14 2013. The clearance covered a plot area of 117.18 acres and a built-up area of approximately 10 lakh square metres. The validity of the original clearance expired in 2020. In July 2024 the Punjab Pollution Control Board imposed environmental compensation of about 1.02 crore rupees on GMADA.
Reported issues included the continued use of a borewell absence of daily freshwater consumption records lack of a captive sewage treatment plant and discharge of untreated domestic sewage into sewers connected to Mohali’s treatment plant. The Board also wrote to revenue authorities to stop registrations of sale deeds for properties in the project.
Residents pursued consumer cases as well. The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission dealt with complaints including numbers 1278 of 2016 and 1634 of 2018. On May 4 2023 the Commission required GMADA to obtain the requisite completion certificate from a competent authority. It also addressed issues of delay compensation and maintenance charges. Residents had challenged the levy of maintenance charges retrospectively from 2016 arguing that amenities and facilities had not been provided as promised.
On October 8 2026 the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission issued further directions in execution proceedings. The Commission ordered GMADA to review the completion certificates issued on October 18 2024 and issue fresh certificates after verifying the actual completion of all promised works and facilities.
The chief administrator was required to examine technical reports verify whether facilities had been completed establish the actual completion date consider objections raised by allottees and issue fresh certificates within 30 days of receiving a certified copy of the order. The October 2024 certificates had covered all 27 towers through two documents one for 19 towers and another for eight towers.
An earlier Supreme Court judgment in Greater Mohali Area Development Authority versus Anupam Garg and others recorded key facts about the scheme. It noted that the project was launched in 2011 the draw of lots took place on March 19 2012 and a letter of intent was issued to one allottee on May 21 2012. In that case an allottee had been allotted a Type II apartment with total consideration of 55 lakh rupees after depositing 5.50 lakh rupees as earnest money.
The current examination of the Purab project forms part of a wider probe into GMADA. In September 2026 the Enforcement Directorate conducted a search at the GMADA office in Mohali. Official records and mobile phones were seized and three floors were sealed. The agency was looking into alleged irregularities relating to land acquisitions change-of-land-use approvals benefits extended to private real-estate developers auction of commercial properties and waivers or concessions in outstanding dues.
The action was linked to an investigation involving Tirupati Infraprojects and associated entities. The broader money-laundering probe originated from a Central Bureau of Investigation first information report alleging bank fraud of approximately 238 crore rupees involving promoters of Tirupati Infraprojects.
Simplex Infrastructure Limited itself faced a corporate insolvency resolution process that was initiated on August 9 2019 before the company withdrew from the Purab site in March 2020.
The available reports distinguish between the original contract value payments made assessments of defective work the second contract and its escalation compensation paid to allottees and regulatory penalties. The original Simplex contract stood at 715.50 crore rupees. The revised project cost in March 2020 was 733.68 crore rupees. Payments to Simplex reached 704.68 crore rupees.
Work assessed as executed by Simplex was valued at 718.79 crore rupees with 65.44 crore rupees marked as defective resulting in a net payable figure of 653.35 crore rupees and a suspected excess of 51.33 crore rupees. The Deepak Builders contract began at 72.53 crore rupees and rose to 118.53 crore rupees. Compensation to delayed allottees was approximately 30 crore rupees and environmental compensation stood at about 1.02 crore rupees.
These figures come from different stages and accounting categories. The Hindustan Times report of October 30 2026 is the immediate source for the Enforcement Directorate’s reported interest in the project. It does not state that a separate Prevention of Money Laundering Act case has already been registered specifically against the Simplex-related transactions or that any individual has been found guilty in connection with this project.
The Supreme Court judgment of 2025 the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission orders the Vigilance Bureau findings the environmental compensation order and the sequence of contracts and payments form the documented background against which the current examination is taking place.
The project that began with a contract in 2013 and an original deadline of August 2015 reached completion certificates only in October 2024 after multiple extensions and the engagement of a second contractor. Residents continued to raise questions about the adequacy of construction facilities and regulatory clearances even after the certificates were issued leading to the fresh directions from the consumer commission in October 2026.
The Enforcement Directorate’s attention to the Purab Premium Apartments brings the financial trail of payments to the original contractor the assessment of defective work the subsequent contract and its escalation and the earlier administrative findings into a single frame of examination alongside the wider probe into the development authority.
