PAL-Peugeot land deal: Citra withdraws bid

Citra Developers Ltd. (CDL) on Friday withdrew its Rs676 crore bid for the PAL-Peugeot land in Kalyan-Dombivili. Sources close to Indiabulls, of which CDL is a 100% subsidiary, said they were not keen on matching the reserve bid of Rs1,650 crore.

Although the deal for the 5.41 lakh sq m was struck of as the most expensive in the city’s distant suburbs, on May 6, the Bombay High Court was informed that CDL’s bid was much lower than the reserve bid.

The court had asked CDL whether it was willing to match the reserve bid.

On Friday, Justice Roshan Dalvi asked the court receiver to record CDL’s withdrawal from the bid. The spokesperson for Indiabulls refused to comment, but other parties involved in the litigation confirmed CDL’s withdrawal.

Earlier, arguing for CDL, senior counsel Janak Dwarkadas had sought the court’s permission to go over the valuation reports saying the reserve bid was “implausible” and was not in accord with the market rates.

DNA had reported that three out of the four valuation reports

sought by the court receiver suggested that the property should have fetched a price much higher than what CDL had quoted. Apart from the reserve bid, the other three valuation reports submitted by independent agencies had valued the land at
Rs816 crore, Rs761 crore and Rs632 crore respectively.

Lawyers speculate that in such a situation, the court may either order another auction of the property or ask for a final valuation report.
CDL had bagged the deal for Rs676 crore on April 22 in an auction contested between CDL, Metropolitan Infrahousing and Rohana Commercial Pvt. Ltd. Metropolitan Infrahousing, the closest contender, lost out on the deal with its bid falling short of Rs1 crore.
The court had ordered the auction of the PAL-Peugeot land after ICICI Bank filed a suit for recovery of the liquidated company’s dues.