Lenders put Kingfisher House on the block, again

Slash reserve price by Rs 15 crore to Rs 135 crore for bidding after first auction in March 2016 failed to attract even a single bidder

Lenders to the Vijay Mallya’s long-defunct Kinfisher Airlines Ltd (KAL) have once again put its headquarters – Kingfisher House – up for sale as part of efforts to recover dues in excess of Rs 6,900 crore.
 
The consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India have cut the reserve price to Rs 135 crore from the earlier Rs 150 crore auction held in March 2016. At that time, the auction for the property, located near Mumbai's domestic airport had failed to get even a single response.
 
SBICAPS Trustee Company, which is coordinating the auction on behalf of lenders, said the date for electronic auction is August 04, 2016. The last date for submitting bids is August 01, 2016.

 

The lenders have put the property, with a built-up area of 1, 586.24 square metres, on the block as part of their efforts to recovery dues from Mallya. The dues stood at Rs 6,963 crore at the end of December 2014, according to the auction notice.
 
In March 2016, at the rate of Rs 88,235 per sq ft, the property was priced nearly three times higher than ongoing rates in the area, real estate experts said.
 
Lenders have also taken possession of Kingfisher Villa, Mallya’s property in Goa, in order to sell it to recover dues.
 
Some lenders including SBI and Punjab National Bank have declared both Kingfisher Airlines and Mallya as wilful defaulters, and are pursuing cases against them in various courts, including the Supreme Court of India.

 
Mallya moved to England in March and the government is using diplomatic and legal means to bring him to back to India to face the legal process.