Indian Bank puts on sale two Byculla flats of Varun Industries directors at a base price of Rs 15.25 crore; experts claim the properties will meet same fate as that of Vijay Mallya’s
Three months after mid-day reported how two directors of Varun Industries — Kiran Mehta and Kailash Agarwal — duped a consortium of 10 banks to the tune of Rs 2,555 crore (Mumbai’s Mallyas, March 12), one of the banks, Indian Bank, has put up their flats for sale.
Vardhaman Heights in Byculla where the two flats are located on the 19th and 20th floor. Pic/Datta Kumbhar
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The notice was issued yesterday by the bank’s Asset Recovery Management Branch, setting July 21 for e-auctioning of the flats. The prospective bidders can verify the properties on July 13, followed by documents on July 14. The flats on sale are between 722 to 775 square feet each. While the reserve price will be set at Rs 15.25 crore, a prospective bidder is allowed to increase the bid by Rs 10 lakh. Moreover, the earnest money deposit (EMD) by a bidder has been set at Rs 50 lakh for each flat.
Earlier, the flats were in the custody of the bank’s Fort branch. Confirming that the flats have been put up for sale, a senior official from the Asset Recovery Management Branch, said, “We are following the protocol. We had issued notices to the directors in the past. Now that they have failed to respond, we are following the law to recover our money by selling the property they had mortgaged.”
Expert opinion
However, experts claimed that just like Vijay Mallya’s properties, even these flats may not find buyers, as four flats have been converted into two. Realty experts claimed that the flats, located on the 19th and 20th floor of Vardhaman Heights in Byculla, priced at Rs 15.25 crore are a hard sell.