The e-auction of one of Vijay Mallya’s flagship properties failed to elicit a single bid, as many thought the reserve price of Rs 150 crore was too high
Banks looking to recover some money on Vijay Mallya’s bad debts met yet another defeat yesterday after they put his flagship property — Kingfisher House — under the hammer but didn’t find a single taker.
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Kingfisher House was put under the hammer by SBI, which had lent Rs 1,600 crore to Kingfisher Airlines. Pic/Nimesh Dave
The 17,000-sq-foot property in Vile Parle, which once belonged to Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines, has been seized by the SBI and was placed on an e-auction on Thursday at the reserve price of R150 crore. But builders pointed out that the price is too high for the sluggish market, and said a better tactic would have been to place it under direct auction.
Vijay Mallya who owes nearly Rs 7,000 crore to a consortium of banks led by SBI, had pledged this building to the banks. The banks had earlier moved the court but failed to prevent him from leaving the country. In order to get their money back, the banks decided to auction the property.
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KK Motwani, of Motwani Developers, said, “The market is already bad; if the banks really want to get some money, they should lower the price. And, instead of holding an e-auction, they should keep it direct. In a direct auction, people get encouraged to bid more seeing bids from others, which isn’t possible in an e-auction.”
Another builder claimed that the price was too high, considering this was a distress sale and Kingfisher house is no heritage structure. “If they are serious about selling it then they should understand that they are selling a building that has got a name attached to it that no longer has any brand value. It’s a stress sale, not a heritage building that will have a premium,” he said.
According to another realty source, the building’s proximity to the airport is also a problem, since it limits the construction potential there. A spokesperson from SBI said, “We have no comment to offer, except that no one came ahead to bid for the Kingfisher House that was put up for e-auction.”
— Inputs from Agencies
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