Tatas retain Lutyens' Delhi's iconic Taj Mansingh hotel after NDMC auction

New Delhi: The iconic Taj Mansingh Hotel in Lutyens' Delhi was retained by the Tata group in an auction by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) Friday, an official said. The auction was pending since the lease expired in 2011.

The lease for the property will be granted to the group for 33 years at double the license fees.

"The Tata group's Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) has retained the property at a license fee of Rs 7.03 crore per month including GST. Earlier, they were paying Rs 3.94 crore per month as license fees," a senior NDMC official told Millennium Post.

The other bidder in the auction was the ITC group of hotels.

Failing to auction the luxury hotel in two attempts, the NDMC had last month decided to relax the eligibility criteria for bidders and reduce the minimum number of bids required.

The auction had to be put off twice as it got less than the required number of bids for the five-star property to go under the hammer.

Earlier, the civic body had issued an annulment notice for the e-auction in June when it had to be cancelled as only IHCL — the existing operator -- had submitted its bid for retaining the property. The Taj Mansingh was given to the Tata group in 1978 on a lease for 33 years, which ended in 2011. The company was since given nine temporary extensions.

However, the civic body could not auction the property then as it was tied up in a legal battle with the IHCL.

"We are delighted that the iconic Taj Mahal, New Delhi which has been an important part of the cultural and historic fabric of the National Capital, will continue to remain a part of the IHCL family," IHCL said in a statement.