Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher House sold for Rs 52 crore

Vijay Mallya (File image)

Lenders have finally sold the Kingfisher House, the erstwhile headquarters of Vijay Mallya-owned and now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, to a Hyderabad-based private developer for Rs 52 crore.

Saturn Realtors has bought the property at a fraction of the original asking price, reported The Times of India. This comes after lenders failed to find a buyer even after multiple attempts to sell Kingfisher House in past.

Initially, the banks had fixed an unrealistic reserve price as the property had several limitations, said the report citing real estate industry experts. There is not much scope to develop the property as it is located at the outskirts of the Mumbai airport, it said. The property is located in the plush Vile Parle area near the airport in Mumbai.

Lenders had tried to auction the property for the first time in March 2016 with a reserve price of Rs 150 crore. After this, several attempts were made to auction the property but failed.

Mallya has been declared a wilful defaulter and is wanted by Indian authorities for default in payment of loans related to Kingfisher Airlines that was grounded in 2012.

On July 26, A British court granted a bankruptcy order against Mallya, paving the way for a consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) to pursue a worldwide freezing order to seek repayment of debt owed by the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

"As at 15.42 [UK time], I adjudicate Dr Mallya bankrupt," Chief Insolvencies and Companies Court (ICC) Judge Michael Briggs said in his ruling during a virtual hearing of the Chancery Division of the High Court here.

The Indian banks, represented by the law firm TLT LLP and barrister Marcia Shekerdemian, had argued for the bankruptcy order to be granted in favour of the Indian banks.

The 65-year-old businessman, meanwhile, remains on bail in the UK while a "confidential" legal matter, believed to be related to an asylum application, is resolved in connection with the unrelated extradition proceedings.

(With inputs from PTI)