Taking its success in e-auction in 2010 further, the National Textile Corporation (NTC) wrapped up sale of its two closed mills in Gujarat for a combined price of Rs 145.93 crore against a total reserve price of Rs 68.74 crore. NTC had initiated a three-day e-auction on December 29, 2010 of a 33,222 sq mts plot of New Manekchowk Textile Mills in Ahmedabad and 61,040 sq mts of land belonging to the closed Mahalaxmi Textile Mills at Bhavnagar.
Early Friday, December 31, 2010 Ahmedabad-based Lok Prakashan Ltd grabbed the Bhavnagar plot for a price of Rs 27.53 crore against the reserve price of Rs 27.47 crore. However, bidding for the Ahmedabad plot went on till late Friday night before city-based firm Ahmedabad Advance Mills Ltd bagged the land for Rs 118.40 crore, nearly 2.5 times higher than the reserve price of Rs 41.27 crore.
Among other close bidders for the Ahmedabad plot were Ajmera Realty (Rs 118.30 crore), Vastavik Realty Pvt Ltd (Rs 115.41 crore), Suyog Buildcon (Rs 113.51 crore) and Mudra Finvest (Gujarat) Ltd (Rs 111.10 crore). Altogether 21 participants were in the fray for the plot which also has a bungalow with a 400 sq mts built-up area.
Talking about the e-auction for Gujarat plots, K Ramachandran Pillai, chairman and managing director, NTC said, "NTC is extremely happy to witness the huge impact the e-auction could make this time, as in the previous cases. We have proved it again that it is the finest option to sell the property by a Government-owned company. NTC has set the trend and has its strategies clearly defined and they are working as per the plan."
This is the third auction by the NTC after it took the trend-setting e-route to sell of the surplus lands. In the first e-auction held from July 29, the company garnered Rs 474 crore for 2.3-acre Poddar Mill land in Mumbai, against the reserve price of Rs 250 crore.
Likewise, the 8.3 acre land of Bharat Textile Mills at Worli in Mumbai was sold for a whopping Rs 1,505 crore against the reserve price of Rs 750 crore, in the second round of online auction from August 4 to 6.
"We were expecting a good response and prices and what we got are the best for the two properties. The company has about 1,300 acres of land in various cities, such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Indore, Karnataka and Coimbatore.
The NTC also intends to sell around 30 acres of Minerva Mills’ land in Bangalore through an e-auction in the near future," Pillai added. The lands of the closed mills are being sold to support its ongoing modernisation-cum-revival package worth Rs 9,102 crore for 24 mills.
The modernisation of 18 mills has been completed and they are now generating profits. Likewise, the NTC has also come out of the red through the comprehensive package.
