Iconic 'Palais Royale' worth Rs 3500 crore in Worli to be auctioned

In a major development Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd IHFL has decided to auction the iconic Palais Royale building to recover dues worth a whopping Rs 971 crore from the owners the SKumars fame industrialist Vikas KasliwalThe IHFL has issued an eauction notice for sale of all the fixed assets of realty major Shree Ram Urban Infrastructure Ltd SRUIL and its guarantor Vikas KasliwalThree specific assets of SRUIL situated in the posh Worli area which includes the property No 1 on which Palais Royale Indias upcoming tallest and most luxurious residential building is also situated will go under the hammerThe total loan amounts on six counts is Rs 715 crore coming to a total outstanding of Rs 9712596546 due to IHFL from SRUIL and KasliwalThe combined reserve prices for these three properties is fixed at Rs 783 crore to be auctioned on Monday May 6Despite repeated attempts by IANS for comments Kasliwal didnt respond to callsmessages on SaturdayThe saga of Rs 3500crore Palais Royale in which some of Indias high networth individuals comprising big names from the business glamour world besides top professionals and NRIs have booked superdeluxe flats started a decade ago in 2009The countrys tallest residential skyscraper standing at almost 295metres is expected to have more than 160 highend apartments of which nearly 80 per cent have been sold outLater there were problems with finances a deal soured with another prominent realtor serious lapses and illegal constructions detected by the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation that put brakes on the progress of the project that was to be fully completed by 2012Irked by the huge delays series of litigation in different courts the flat buyers have even formed a Palais Royale Members Association to recover their collective investments of around Rs 1200 crore sunk in the controversial project for so longThe majestic Palais Royale with a grand view of the Rajiv Gandhi Bandra Worli Sea Link and other prominent landmarks has come up on the erstwhile fiveacres Shree Ram Mills compoundIt followed the footsteps of many other defunct textile mills that have blossomed into megahousing complexes malls entertainment zones commercial plazas thriving in the past couple of decadesThe Palais Royale episode becomes the second major embarrassment for the reputed Kasliwal family after the recent collapse of the Reid amp Taylor luxury brand headed by Nitin Kasliwal brother of Vikas Kasliwal which is now facing liquidation as a going concern as per a February 5 2019 order of National Company Law Tribunal MumbaiIndustry sources however darkly predict that given the current dismal scenario in the realty market in Mumbai and elsewhere in the country its difficult to imagine who would dare to touch a messy project like thisIn the past fourfive years banks and other lenders are saddled with thousands of properties which they are unable to dispose off to recover their dues ranging from a few lakhs to a few crore rupees For a single project like Palais Royale the figure of outstandings is nearly a thousand crore rupees said one player requesting anonymityCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates