The Hindu Business Line : Ministry told to file report on Centaur

IN yet another twist to the sale of Centaur Airport Hotel in Mumbai, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has been asked to submit to the Standing Committee of Parliament a report on the sale.

Official sources, while confirming the development, said there was no question of the deal being scrapped. The submission of the report, they said, would only mean that whatever the Ministry had been saying "verbally" till now on the sell-off would now be "put down in black and white on paper".

The Ministry has been asked to submit its report to the Committee by Tuesday next.

Hotel Corporation of India (HCI), which owns the Centaur brand, is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Air India (AI) and used to own and run five hotels, including the Airport Hotel in Mumbai.

However, with the Government decision to exit from the hospitality sector, the Juhu Centaur near Mumbai airport and Rajgir Centaur (Bihar) were divested. But the Juhu Centaur sale ran into controversy after the A.L. Batra Group, the successful bidder, decided to onsell the property to the Sahara Group. While the Batras paid the Government Rs 83 crore, they sold the hotel to the Sahara group for a much higher consideration.

Even as the MoCA prepares its report, it is interesting to note that the Minister for Disinvestment, Mr Arun Shourie, informed the Rajya Sabha on November 18 that the agreement to sell, entered into between HCI and Batra Hospitality Private Ltd (BHPL) for transfer of the business of Centaur to BHPL, prohibited assignment of the agreement, benefits or burdens under the agreement without the prior consent of HCI.

MoCA officials maintain that the Ministry has not yet received any official intimation on the sale from BHPL.

Further, Mr Shourie had said the legal advisors to the transaction had advised that the legal identity, BHPL, had not changed with the change in its shareholding pattern and the ownership, right, title, interest and obligations of the entire business of Airport Centaur in Mumbai continues to vest with BHPL, which is managing the business and affairs of the hotel as per the agreement.

Meanwhile, with the Government rejecting a request of the new owners to use the Centaur brand name for a period exceeding 90 days, the hotel has been renamed `Sahara Star'. Sources also said the authorities had received a notice from the group seeking a change in the records of the name of Batra Hospitality Ltd to Sahara Hospitality Private Ltd.

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