CIVIC BODY TO AUCTION TAJ MANSINGH, 2 OTHER HOTELS

New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) in its council meeting on Wednesday unanimously decided to auction three three Lutyen’s zone hotels — Taj Mansingh, Asian Hotel and Hotel Connaught — through e-auction.

The meeting was chaired by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is also a member of the council. The auction will be done by September-end, after the licences of the hotels were terminated by the council.

The modalities were decided after three rounds of meetings, a senior NDMC official said.

“The proposal of conducting auctions of the three hotels was discussed in detail today (Wednesday). It was decided that the tender process will be initiated within this month. The e-auction will be conducted through MSTC Ltd, a central PSU, and SBI Capital Market Limited will be the transaction advisor for the auction,” the official said on Wednesday.

Following a legal battle lasting over six years, the NDMC had given a go-ahead to an auction of the Taj Mansingh in March. However, modalities for the auction were still being worked out.

The property was given to Tata Group’s Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) on a lease for 33 years, which ended in 2011. The company was since given nine temporary extensions.

After the NDMC decided to auction the property, the IHCL approached the Delhi high court. The company’s plea was dismissed in October last year.

In November 2016, the IHCL moved the Supreme Court but the civic body stuck to its decision.

The NDMC has also decided to auction Hotel Connaught and re-auction Asian Hotel, after they were sealed by it in 2015 due to non-payment of licence fees dues.

In January, the Asian Hotel was e-auctioned fetching ₹45.5 lakh per month as licence fee, the highest-ever for the agency. But, the bidder later refused to take the property necessitating a re-auction.