Tayal-linked entity's demand for 8-fold rise in rent rejected

The Bank of Rajasthan (BoR) has turned down a demand from a company related to the Tayal family, which is the bank’s key promoter, to increase the lease rental for the Mumbai corporate office’s premises by 8.5 times.

The private sector bank made its decision public regarding the premises, taken on lease from various parties that have business relations with the Tayal-controlled Krishna group, in its balance sheet for 2009-10. BoR had taken the premises on lease in central Mumbai from Solid Vision Pvt Ltd for a monthly rent of Rs 15.42 lakh. The annual lease outgo was Rs 1.85 crore in 2009-10, unchanged from a year earlier.

In its balance sheet and profit & loss statement for 2009-10, BoR said: “Owners of the rented property housing the corporate office have sought a rent revision in respect of the property occupied by the bank at Lower Parel, Mumbai. This, if acceded to, would result in a liability of Rs 15.77 crore. Since this is not acceptable, the said sum is not reflected in the financial statement.”

The bank also paid Rs 1.8 crore as rent to Delux Polymers for its 6,000-sq-ft regional office in Mumbai. The Tayals were involved in this transaction, too. One Ambika Silk Mills had sub-leased the premises to Sanjay Kumar Tayal and Praveen Kumar Tayal. The Tayals, in turn, leased the property to Delux Polymers, even though they don’t have any stake in the companies, according to the bank.

The bank also took on rent space from other Tayal-linked entities for various branches in Maharashtra and Silvasa, BoR said in its balance sheet statement.