Tata Group Retains Taj Mansingh Hotel 

The iconic Taj Mansingh hotel in Delhi was retained by the Tata group in an auction by the New Delhi Municipal Council today, an official said.

The auction was pending since the lease had expired in 2011 and the Tata group were operating the property on temporary extensions. The lease for the property will be granted to the group for 33 years at double the earlier license fee.

“The Tata group's Indian Hotels Company Ltd. has retained the property at a monthly license fee of Rs 7.03 crore, including the goods and service tax, or 32.5 percent of the gross turnover of the property. Earlier, they were paying Rs 3.94 crore per month as license fees,” a senior NDMC official told PTI.

The Taj Mansingh was given to the Tata group in 1978 on a 33-year lease, which ended in 2011. However, the civic body could not auction the property then as it was tied up in a legal battle with the Indian Hotels.

The fiercely fought auction with rival group ITC, also bidding for the hotel, began 11 am and ended 4 pm.

Failing to auction the luxury hotel in two previous attempts, the NDMC had last month decided to relax the eligibility criteria for bidders and reduce the minimum number of bids required. The earlier auction had to be put off 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 Indian Hotels—the existing operator—had submitted its bid for retaining the property.