E- auction of 3 luxury hotels planned

As per NDMC, submission of bids will be held from May 15 to June 5

The New Delhi Municipal Council ( NDMC) has announced the e- auction of three of its premium hotels in Lutyen’s Delhi, including the five- star property Taj Mansingh, for a period of 33 years.

The other two hotels are The Connaught and Hotel Asian International. The civic body held a pre- bid meeting for the three properties last week and the submission period of bids is from May 15 to June 7.

"The auction of the three properties has been pending for quite a while. We have announced the launch of e- auction for all three of them and are inviting bids. The e- auction will be conducted through MSTC Ltd, a central PSU, and SBINSE 0.97 per cent Capital Market Limited will be the transaction advisor for the auction," a senior NDMC official told.

Taj Mansingh was earlier 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.

However, the civic body could not auction the property then as it was tied up in a legal battle with IHCL, which has been operating the hotel property since 1978.

The municipal council had last year decided to auction Hotel Connaught and re- auction Asian Hotel, after they were

NDMC had last year decided to auction Hotel Connaught & reauction Asian Hotel, after they were sealed due to nonpayment of license fees dues. Last year, Asian Hotel was eauctioned fetching 45.5 lakh per month.

sealed by it in 2015 due to non- payment of license fees dues.

In January last year, 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.