Xander Group sells Devigarh Palace for around Rs 90 crore

Hotel Devigarh Palace, the royal residence of the rulers of Delwara principality of the 18th century, has been sold by the Xander Group to a royal family of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, for around Rs 90 crore.
"Xander Group, which has invested in the property in 2006 wanted to exit its investment. It took us 11 months to finalise the deal, mainly because the current market conditions for hospitality sector in the state is sluggish", Vaibhav Jain, President of Ashika Capital, which assisted the realty player in the deal told PTI here.
He however did not disclose the deal size, which has been sold out to His Highness of Jodhpur.

"This deal is a significant achievement considering the heritage nature of property. This coveted property is one of the royal addresses and has credible historical value", he added.
According to market sources, the size of the deal could have been Rs 120-130 crore.
However, due to the sluggish market conditions in the state, Xander might have sold the property at a cut of almost 30-40 per cent.

The 39-room heritage hotel and resort, then the palace in Delwara, Udaipur, was given out to Raja Sajja Singh, one of the lieutenant of Maharana Pratap, after the 'Battle of Haldighati' in 1576.

Two centuries later, the palace was in ruins and empty for 20 years, when it was acquired by Poddars, an industrial family from Shekhawati region in 1984 and it took almost 15 years for restoring it.
Xander had invested nearly Rs 90 crore since 2006 in a special purpose vehicle Boutique Hotels India to upgrade the Devigarh Palace hotel and to build two properties 'Ratn' and 'Rasa' in Jaipur that opened in 2010.