At a price of Rs 93.5 crore, Kingfisher House, the prized possession of Vijay Mallya, is on auction for the fifth time. The auction will be held on May 31, and the current asking price is Rs 57 crore less than the original price of Rs 150 crore.
The last day for submitting the Earnest money deposit (EMD) of Rs 9.35 crore for participating in the auction was Monday.
Also, the loan amount on Mallya has come down to Rs 6,203 crore compared to nearly Rs 7,000 crore that he once owed to the banks. The e-auction is being held by SBICap Trustee Company Ltd.
The building, located in Vile Parle (E), was formerly known as Paradigm and later went on to be known as Kingfisher House. It has a basement, ground, lower ground floor and an upper floor. The total area is 2,401 square metres, of which the built-up area is 1,586 square metres. Roughly, the area would come up to 17,000 square foot.
The last four auctions didn't find any takers, the reasons were varied, realtors had claimed that the prices were on the higher side, because of which, not many were willing to participate in it.
Apart from this, experts had claimed that if the auction was direct, instead of by e-auction, chances of the building getting sold were higher.
Prakash Rohera, of Karma Realtors, a real estate consultancy firm based out of Western Suburbs, said, "The prices in Andheri (E) would fetch not more than Rs 70 crore for a plot this size. Though the price has been reduced, it is still on the high side. When freehold properties in adjoining areas are available at cheaper rates, why would people go for this one."
However, the bank last month managed to sell Mallya's Kingfisher villa, a property located in Goa. Sachin Joshi, an actor and businessman, was the buyer.
Another expert claimed that the other reason people shy away is the plot's proximity to the airport, leaving no clarity on FSI, and on whether reconstruction can be carried out.
When contacted on how many people have shown interest by Monday, there was no response from SBI's side.
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Experts are sceptical as the prices are still higher than the market rate and hence prospective buyers may shy away from the auction.
Monday was the last day for the prospective bidders to pay the earnest money deposit of Rs 9.35 crore. The physical possession of the property was taken by the bank in February 2015.
