Sahara case: Subrata Roy's Aamby Valley development to be auctioned in parts; move may finally attract bidders

The official liquidator, appointed by the Bombay High Court, is planning to auction the Sahara group’s Aamby Valley development in parts in the absence of buyers for the entire project, according to a media report. According to The Times of India, the official liquidator is planning to seek help of the district administration and the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) to sell the land in parcels. The PMRDA commissioner Kiran Gitte told The Times of India that they would facilitate the liquidator for the auction process as the authority wants the hill station to be developed further. [caption id=“attachment_3372478” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] On 28 March, Mid-Day reported that the sale of Aamby Valley land was likely to get delayed as there were issues regarding illegal construction on the land and provisions of property laws. In August last year, the Bombay High Court had put up the beleaguered Sahara Group’s prestigious Aamby Valley city project in Lonavala for a public auction . The official liquidator for the Aamby Valley city - considered the jewel in the crown of the Sahara Group - put up a reserve price of Rs 37,392 crore. The Sahara group pegs the market valuation of this project at over Rs 1 lakh crore. Bombay High Court’s decision came after the Supreme Court rejected Sahara chief Subrata Roy’s plea to put on hold the auction process of the group’s saying its doesn’t believe that he would pay Rs 1,500 crore, if the auction process was halted or postponed. In September 2017, Sahara group said a Dubai based investment fund had agreed to provide a loan of $1.6 billion (over Rs 10,000 crore) against security of 26 percent shares of its Aamby Valley project. Sahara group said Aamby Valley Ltd had entered into a pact for Royale Partners Investment Fund, registered in Mauritius as a global business company and owned by Dubai- headquartered RPMG Investment, to invest money in return for a strategic stake of 26 percent. With inputs from agencies