Govt refuses Lodha bid for Finlay Mill

Govt refuses Lodha bid for Finlay Mill
Business Standard, August 19, 2009, Page 4

Raghavendra Kamath / Mumbai

The Union textile ministry has refused to accept the bid made by Mumbai-based Lodha Developers for Finlay Mill’s land in Central Mumbai.

According to sources close to the development, the ministry feels that the National Textile Corporation (NTC), which has put the land on sale, will get better prices than the bid put in by Lodha Developers. The company, which had initially placed a bid of Rs 657.90 crore, later hiked it to Rs 710 crore, following a request from NTC.

When contacted, Lodha Group Director Abhishek Lodha said that he was yet to see the government documents and, hence, was unable to comment.

The development is likely to have an adverse effect on the auction of Kohinoor Mill Lands, which is expected to come up shortly. Industry experts opined that the government is unlikely to get a better price, given the poor property market conditions.

“If somebody has that kind of money, they would put it in equity or bullion markets, and not in property. Property markets are yet to recover,” they pointed out.

Lodha Developers was planning to build an office-cum-residential complex at the Finlay Mill plot. In 2005, the company had acquired a 7.5-acre plot at Apollo Mills in Chinchpokli for Rs 180 crore.

NTC had put the Finlay Mill land on the block with a reserve price of Rs 708 crore for 10.3 acres. The government, which had appointed Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj as consultants, had received a good response from developers, including Reliance Vorando, Tata Realty, Lodha Developers, DB Realty, Nahar Group and Kalpataru Developers.