NTC's Bharat Textiles Mills e-auction bid touches Rs1,016 crore

Close on the heels of the sale of the Poddar Mills property netting Rs464 core, the National Textiles Corporation (NTC) is all set to reap another windfall with the bidding for its 8.5-acre Bharat Textiles Mills auction touching Rs1,016 crore against the reserve price of Rs750 crore.

The e-auction is to end tomorrow evening and, according to NTC officials, the final price could go as high as Rs1,500 crore.

The Bharat mills land at Worli Naka offers a potential built-up area of over 3 lakh sq ft and higher FSI for various developmental projects, including IT parks, hotels, hospitals, educational institution and others. Among the bidders in the fray for the prime property are the Tatas, Videocon, Oberoi Developers, Piramals and the Lodha Group.

Last Saturday, NTC's 2.3-acre Poddar mills property received the winning bid of Rs464 crore from Indiabulls. NTC entered the market more than a year after its attempted sale of Finlay Mills at Parel, the sale of which had been pending for a long time since December 2008 when NTC tried to put it up for sale the first time.

Finally, in July 2009, after the tendering process failed two times, the Lodha Group emerged as the highest bidder when it bid Rs657.09 crore, which was later enhanced to Rs710 crore.

However, in a controversial move, the NTC rejected the Lodha Group's bid of Rs710 crore forcing the developer to approach the Delhi high court. The matter was referred by the court to the BIFR, which upheld the sale of the mill to the Lodhas recently.