NDMC defers Taj Mansingh auction yet again

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has deferred the auction of hotel Taj Mansingh again and granted another three-month extension to Tata Group's Indian Hotels Company to run it.

This is the ninth extension given to the hotel since 2011 and third in 2015. The current lease expired yesterday and the deadline to conclude the auction process has now been extended till January 2016.

"The proceedings for the auction are under process and the modalities are still being worked out. Hence the council decided to give another extension to the hotel," a senior NDMC official said.

The decision to grant extension was taken at a meeting of the council earlier this week.

The property, owned by NDMC, was given to Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) on lease for 33 years. The lease ended in 2011 and the company has been given eight temporary extensions since then on various grounds.

NDMC, which works under the administrative control of the Union Home Ministry, had got the nod to auction the hotel in March. The civic body had earlier set a three-month deadline till June 30 to finish the auction proceedings.

NDMC had asked the Coal Ministry to guide it in the auction.

The process, however, got delayed since the previous chairman Jalaj Srivastava, who was overseeing finalisation of auction modalities, was shifted to the Union agriculture ministry in April.

The current chairman Naresh Kumar took charge in June and the council decided to give another extension till October 31, which expired yesterday.

The civic body had also selected SBI Cap, which was the Centre's advisor for coal blocks auctions, to be its transaction advisor for the auction of Taj Mansingh.

The advisers are expected to guide the entire auctioning process, from conceptualising the plan to handing it over and signing of the final documents.

Two years ago, when NDMC decided to auction the property, IHCL had approached Delhi High Court seeking a stay, which was not granted.