Date:19/09/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/09/19/stories/2005091900750500.htm

Back NTC to sell one more Mumbai property

Our Bureau

Mumbai , Sept. 18

THE National Textile Corporation has put up one more of its Mumbai properties for sale.

The property is located in Nepean Sea Road, one of Mumbai's most expensive areas.

It has a bungalow and land, measuring 5,212 sq m, and a built up area of 3,106 sq m, with Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai-approved FSI of 6,932.50. The property belongs to Apollo Textile Mills, which is under the care of NTC (South Maharashtra). Earnest money of Rs 5 crore will have to be deposited.

However, the property has illegal squatters and is involved in litigation to have them evicted. It was nationalised in 1974 and has had these illegal squatters since then.

NTC recently put up several properties in Central Mumbai for sale, which were sold for astronomical sums.

In June this year, NTC received a bid of Rs 702 crore from Jwala Real Estate, a New Delhi company, for its 17.5-acre Mumbai Textile Mill property at Lower Parel. The Apollo Textile Mills, in Chinchpokli, Mumbai, received a bid of Rs 180 crore for seven acres from Lodha Builders. Indiabulls bought Jupiter mills for Rs 276 crore.

Recently, Cosy Corner near Nepean Sea Road was sold for Rs 108 crore.

NTC's Mumbai mill land sales alone grossed slightly over Rs 2,000 crore this year.

While some experts say that though these prices are unusually high, considering the commercial prospects buyers are not taking chances and bidding very high.

The mother corporation (NTC) has been selling land assets across the country to spur modernisation in mills identified for revival. Twenty-two such mills have been identified. NTC has nine subsidiaries, each of which manage several mills.

Since 2002, the corporation has sold land in 41 mills mainly to service debts, pay worker dues and modernise its mills.