Taj Mansingh gets 6- month extension from NDMC

The landmark Taj Mahal Hotel on Man Singh Road in central Delhi has been given yet another lease extension of six months by the New Delhi Municipal Council.

The decision to extend the lease, which expires on July 31, was taken in a council meeting on Thursday, NDMC chairperson Jalaj Shrivastava said.

He said the NDMC extended the lease as it has not received any guidelines in this regard from the Union home ministry, which is the governing authority of the municipal body.

The property, constructed by the NDMC, was given to Indian Hotels Company Limited in 1978 on lease for 33 years. The controversy started in 2011 when the lease ended. The civic agency was set to renew it, but had to postpone the matter as the Union urban development ministry suggested auctioning of the property.

In his detailed opinion the then solicitor- general Mohan Parasaran has categorically ruled out the bidding route along with the right of first refusal since it violates the Central Vigilance Commission’s guidelines of post- rendering negotiations. The former law officer had held that any bidding process that comes along with the right of first refusal is tantamount to post rendering negotiations.

This is the fifth time that the luxury hotel has got an extension on its lease by the NDMC, which is the land- owning agency.