The Tata Group has retained the iconic Taj Mansingh Hotel in Lutyens’ Delhi in an auction by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) after years of litigation at doubled license fees, an official said.
The fiercely fought auction with rival group ITC, also bidding for the hotel, began 11 am and ended 4 pm, media reports said.
The auction was pending since the lease had expired in 2011 and the Tata group were operating the property on temporary extensions, reported PTI.
The lease for the hotel will be granted to the group for 33 years at double the license fees, the report said.
“The Tata group’s Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) has retained the property at a license fees of Rs 7.03 crore per month including GST or 32.50 per cent of the gross turnover of the property. Earlier, they were paying Rs 3.94 crore per month as license fees,” a senior NDMC official was quoted as saying.
Failing to auction the luxury hotel in two attempts, the NDMC had last month decided to relax the eligibility criteria for bidders and reduce the minimum number of bids required, the report highlighted.
The auction had to be put off twice as it got less than the required number of bids for the five-star property to go under the hammer, it said.
Earlier, the civic body had issued an annulment notice for the e-auction in June when it had to be cancelled as only IHCL — the existing operator — had submitted its bid for retaining the property, the report added.
The Taj Mansingh was reportedly given to the Tata group in 1978 on a lease for 33 years, which ended in 2011. The company was since given nine temporary extensions.