Businessman Sachiin Joshi takes possession of Mallya's villa in Goa

Businessman-cum-actor Sachiin Joshi on Monday took possession of Kingfisher Villa, earlier owned by troubled liquor baron Vijay Mallya, which he had purchased from a consortium of banks recently.

Joshi, the promoter of the Viking Ventures Private Limited, took possession of the sprawling property after opening the gates of the villa in afternoon.

"It is nice to be here for the first time. I am very happy to be here. It's a good feeling," Joshi told the media.

Joshi, who is based in Mumbai, had purchased the villa for Rs 73 crore from the consortium of banks which had failed to auction it on three occasions earlier. The latest auction was held on March 6.

The villa, spread over 12,350 sq ft or three acres at Candolim (on the way to Fort Aguada), was legally owned by United Breweries Holdings, the parent company of the Kingfisher Airlines.

The lenders had taken physical possession of the villa in May 2016.

Auctioning off the villa was the part of the lenders' efforts to try to recover the dues of over Rs 9,000 crore from the airlines by monetising assets of the defunct carrier.