Real estate developer DLF Ltd, which has paid large advance payments to various governments for townships and commercial projects, is now looking for refunds as the projects are not moving at the expected pace.

The refunds, which could run into thousands of crores of rupees, could help the developer pay off its outstanding debt and execute existing and new projects.

In February, the Haryana government refunded over Rs 200 crore of license fees to DLF as its commercial projects were road blocked due to slow execution by the government authorities.

The realtor had applied for licenses for 150 acres of commercial land in Gurgaon and another 30 acres for an IT park. Sources said DLF was unwilling to wait further for the government to complete land acquisition as the advance payment was lying with the state for several years, which could have been used to develop other projects. However, a source familiar with the development said the land deal with the Haryana government has not been called off, but "deferred due to slow progress in development".

DLF refused to comment. "We will not comment on market speculations," a spokesperson said when contacted by DNA Money.

Recently, DLF also asked the West Bengal government to refund Rs 250 crore out of its advanced payment of Rs 270 crore as "token earnest" money in 2007 for the 4,840 acre Dankuni township project. Another real estate developer, BPTP Group, recently backed out of the country's most expensive land deal at Rs 5,000 crore with the Noida Authority in Uttar Pradesh, due to unavailability of funds.

Vivek Seal/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication