No takers for Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Villa in Goa, again

Mumbai: An SBI-led consortium’s attempt to auction the Kingfisher Villa in Goa, failed for the second time on Thursday as it had no takers despite a five per cent cut on the reserve price. [caption id=“attachment_3060926” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The exterior view of Kingfisher Villa is seen in the western Indian city of Goa July 5, 2012. Reuters[/caption] The reserve price for the north Goa villa, where absconding industrialist Vijay Mallya hosted lavish parties, was kept at Rs 81 crore, which was 5 per cent lower than the October auction price. In the first attempt the lenders had tried to sell the sea facing property for Rs 85.29 crore. “Unfortunately, none of the bidders came forward. The auction failed this time as well,” an official of SBICap, which is auctioning Mallya’s properties on behalf of the lenders, said here. Earlier on Monday, its attempt to auction the Kingfisher House here, the defunct Kingfisher Airline’s corporate office, also failed for the third time due to no takers despite a 15 percent cut in its reserve price. Officials said the depressing effect of the 8 November demonetisation measure on the real estate market could be a factor in the lack of bids as bidders expect prices to be reduced further. Kingfisher Villa, owned by United Breweries Holdings (UBHL), was mortgaged as collateral for loans to Kingfisher Airlines. The liquor baron left the country in March and is currently said to be living in Britain. Besides these two properties, the banks are also once again auctioning Mallya’s movable properties worth Rs 15.72 lakh kept at Kingfisher House, on January 5, 2017. These assets include 10 cars, which would be auctioned on an individual basis. Kingfisher Airlines owes around Rs 9,000 crore to the consortium of 17 banks.