The Hindu Business Line : Bidding for 2 NTC properties mops up Rs 900 cr

According to an official, the company had put up two of its properties for sale and there were a total of 12 bids received. The second highest bid of Rs 621 crore was fielded by the Dosti and Parshwanath groups.

Another property, Apollo Textile Mills, in Chinchpokli, Mumbai, received a bid of Rs 180 crore from Lodha Builders for its 7.5-acre area.The second highest bidder was Akruti Nirman, a Mumbai builder, whose bid was worth Rs 133 crore.

The previous mill that was up for sale — NTC's Jupiter Mills — went for Rs 276 crore.

According to a source, the entire fund for this will be paid by Indiabulls within a 90-day period from the day the letter of acceptance was issued to the company. It has already paid 25 per cent of the scheduled payment.

NTC will use the funds it received from the sale of land to retire the bonds that it floated to pay for the VRS to its employees.

According to Mr Joygopal Sanyal, Head (Western Region), Consulting and Land Agency, Chesterton Meghraj Property Consultants Pvt Ltd, the price of built-up FSI was high at Rs 7,300 per sq ft for Mumbai Mills, while Apollo Mills had a built-up FSI price of Rs 4,000-5,000 per sq ft. He said the market was witnessing a rise in property prices and the market would grow in three to four years.

The builders are likely to recoup their cost on the land through the development of high-end residential properties.

However, Mr Sanyal said, while Lower Parel was a preferred housing destination, the infrastructure and sewage capacities needed to be developed. The area would find it difficult to deal with the surge in population anticipated from these developments.

He said road and accessibility had to be improved and more `quality spaces' were needed. While property prices in Sydney were lower, he said the amenities and infrastructure were far better than those on offer in Mumbai.

The Mumbai property market is unique in that some of its residential properties command higher prices than commercial properties. It shares this similarity with New York, London and Tokyo.

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