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Delhi

NDMC gets MHA nod to auction Taj Mansingh hotel

“We recently received the written approval from the MHA to auction the hotel. We will put the proposal for approval in the meeting of the council scheduled to be held on March 20,”said Jalaj Srivastava, chairperson of NDMC to Millennium Post. He further added that the proceedings to auction the hotel would start after the approval from the council.

NDMC has further extended the lease of the hotel to Tata-owned Indian Hotels Company Limited. “The council will discuss each and every aspect of the case from guidelines to the legalities,” he added. The meeting will be chaired by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who will take oath as the member of the 13-member council for being the MLA from New Delhi assembly. So far, the council meetings used to be chaired by New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi.

The controversy on hotel Taj Mansingh started back in 2011, when the 33-year lease of Indian Hotels Company Ltd of the Tata group, on this property, expired.

NDMC moved to renew the lease, but had to postpone the matter as the Union Ministry for Urban Development (UD) suggested fresh auctioning of the property.

The Tata group moved to the Delhi High court to stall the proceedings. While the matter was pending in court, NDMC kept on extending the lease till date. So far, the company has got six extensions on the property after its last extension expired in December, 2014.

 With the matter pending in court, it came into the jurisdiction of the two Union Ministries — MHA and UD. The council of NDMC then decided to seek the opinion of Solicitor General of India through the MHA. According to the Solicitor General of India, the first right of refusal to Tata group was rejected, suggesting fresh public auction.

Another alternative suggested by him was an independent evaluation of the current value of the property leading to a contract between both the parties (NDMC and the company) on a mutually agreed amount.
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