Mumbai Port Trust, Taj Hotel lock horns over land rent

They may be the most unlikely adversaries, but the Mumbai Port Trust and the iconic Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai are locked in a dispute over the rent to be paid by the latter for the land on which it was built.

The land, which is near the iconic Gateway of India, is owned by the Trust. The Indian Hotels-owned Taj Mahal Hotel pays the Trust a monthly rent of Rs 13 lakh. According to a Supreme Court judgment in 2006, the rent of all commercial properties, which are not being used for port purposes, with a paid-up capital of over Rs 1 crore has to be increased to six per cent of the total land value effective from 2004.

Following this, the Mumbai Port Trust has been demanding the rent to be increased to Rs 2 crore a month. “The hotel has not agreed to pay anything more than Rs 13 lakh,” a senior official in the Mumbai Port Trust said.

The land value was to be decided through a ready reckoner rate provided by the Maharashtra government. While the two parties have started talks to resolve the issue, no headway has been reached yet.

The Trust may, however, resort to taking legal action action against the hotel if they don't comply with the SC order.

Indian Hotel’s public relations agency did not revert to two e-mails sent by Business Standard on May 29 and June 1 regarding this matter.