Taj Mansingh suspense ends, Tata lease extended for a year

In a major relief to the Tatas, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) extended the land lease of the Mansingh road property for a year, till the time an open auction takes place.

However, the Tatas would be given the first right of refusal ( the right to match the highest bid) in the auction that will be conduced during this period. The decision was taken at the council’s meeting chaired by chief minister Sheila Dikshit.

The iconic hotel is on land leased to the company for 33 years, which ended last October. The lease was extended for a year by NDMC until October 2012. NDMC will continue to get the current 17.25 percentshare from revenue or around Rs. 29 crore per year from thehotel.

Earlier this month, even Additional Solicitor General of India Rakesh Kumar Khanna had advised NDMC to take the auction route, thereby ruling out any case for lease extension.

Even Urban Development Ministry has earlier suggested thatNDMC should go for open bids for the property in which the TajHotel is situated following which an independent consultantwas asked to prepare a report on the road ahead. However BJP MLA Karan Singh Tanwar strongly objected the decision to extend the lease.

“I opposed it in the meeting and instead suggested that thelease be extended for maximum two months, within which the newbid can be made,” he told PTI. Demanding a CBI probe, he alleged that in the last oneyear the NDMC did not do anything to ensure that a biddingtakes place.