NTC to e-auction surplus lands in Indore and Bangalore

"From the surplus land of Malwa United Mills in Indore, the NTC will put on the block 16.57 acres with a reserve price of Rs 60 crore from October 25 to 27. The tenders to shortlist the participants in the three-day auction will be opened on October 18," NTC said in a statement.

Another 1.703 acres of Minerva Mills in Bangalore will be available from November 15 to 17 and the reserve price has been fixed at Rs 50 crore for this property. The tenders inviting interested parties for the e-auction have been already invited.

"... We held the highly exciting e-auctions in July and August and went to create history of sorts, from ensuring cent per cent transparency to reaping the best prices. We definitely hope to replicate rich gains, though this time the properties are comparatively smaller," NTC CMD K Ramachandran Pillai said.

He further said that the company is planning at least six more online auctions during the current fiscal.

NTC is a central public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Textiles to manage the affairs of sick textile undertakings in the private sector, taken over by the government.
Earlier, real estate major Indiabulls bagged NTC's 8.38 acres of Bharat Textile Mills land in Mumbai, for a whopping Rs 1,505 crore, against a reserve price of Rs 750 crore. It also won the 2.39 acre Poddar Mills Process House land for Rs 474 crore, paying almost double the reserve price of Rs 250 crore.

NTC hopes to mop up around Rs 8,000 crore more, 60 per cent higher than the previous target in the wake of results of the two e-auctions, by disposing the surplus lots during this fiscal, to part finance the restructuring of the company.

It has about 1,300 acre of surplus land in various place, such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Indore, Karnataka and Coimbatore. After closing down as many as 77 unviable units over the period, NTC launched its ambitious Rs 9,102-crore revival package for its 24 mills, with the private sector, setting on the path of recovery.

NTC has already sold land worth Rs 6,000 crore, including the recent sale of land of two mills through e-auction.