Sahara’s Aamby Valley to be auctioned in June
MUMBAI: The official liquidator of Sahara Group’s Aamby Valley City is ready to auction the property in June after the Supreme Court ordered the sale to recover money owed to investors, two people aware of the development said on condition of anonymity.
The funds realised from the auction has two claimants: the Securities and Exchange Board of India, and the income-tax (I-T) department. The apex court might have to step in and provide guidance, the two people added.
The Sahara Group claimed the auction would not go through since it has submitted a postdated cheque of ₹1,500 crore to the apex court.
The liquidator of the Bombay high court has submitted its report on Aamby to Sebi. The value of the property is estimated at ₹43,000 crore, said one of the two people cited above. The market value of this property is likely to be higher and the auction may begin only after the next Supreme Court hearing on June 19, this person added.
The apex court ordered the auction on April 17 after Sahara India chief Subrata Roy failed to deposit ₹5,092.64 crore with the capital markets regulator. At that time, Sahara had expressed reservations on the sale, saying that the market value of Aamby Valley was over ₹1 lakh crore.
“As per the order of Hon’ble Supreme Court, there is no question of auctioning of Aamby Valley as Sahara had submitted a ₹1,500 crore PDC (post-dated cheque) to the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the next hearing is on June 19, 2017,” said a spokesperson for Sahara in an emailed response. Sebi did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Aamby Valley is Sahara’s flagship project, comprising luxury resorts, man-made lakes and an airport. It is spread over 4,000 hectares. In January 2012, Sahara valued the property at ₹34,000 crore.
The Sahara case relates to two group firms raising ₹24,029 crore from 29.6 million investors. Sebi said this violated its public issue norms and ordered a refund in 2011.
The order was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2012 and the case has been going on since then. According to Sebi, Sahara’s total dues with interest exceed ₹47,000 crore and the group has so far remitted ₹11,477 crore, said the second person cited earlier.