Desperate NTC cuts price for Mumbai mill

The slowdown in the real estate sector has not affected the fortunes of DLFs, Unitechs and Rahejas alone, reports Sumant Banerji.

The slowdown in the real estate sector has not affected the fortunes of DLFs, Unitechs and Rahejas alone.

HT Image

The government-run National Textile Corporation (NTC) is also hard-pressed to find buyers for 10.8 acres of prime real estate in Mumbai.

After below expectation bids for Finlay Mill in November, NTC has put the mill, roughly one-eighth the size of Nariman Point, on the block again. This time, at a reserve price that’s been cut by 30 per cent.

“We’ve taken into account the fall in prices of real estate,” said K. Ramachandran Pillai, chairman and managing director, NTC.

Against an expected price of Rs 1,066 crore, the highest bid that this mill had generated in November 2008 was Rs 405 crore. The tender was subsequently cancelled.

Four years back, the PSU had raised Rs 2,022 crore through the sale of almost 48 acres in five mills. This was almost three times the expected price of Rs 770 crore. This time round it has roped in real estate consultant Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM) to hardsell the mill, located at Parel in central Mumbai. “We’ll make sure the tender visibility is high,” said Anuj Puri of JLLM.

Another 73 acres of land could be on offer. “After Finlay, we will put 13 acres of Kohinoor Mill No 1 and 2 on the block,” Pillai said. “Nine other mills…will be sold off.”