Apple Fin's Bandra-Kurla property auction flops again

The auction of Apple Finance's 10-storeyed office complex at the Bandra-Kurla complex in Mumbai has again evoked a poor response.

At an auction held by the Bombay High Court's receiver today, the Mumbai-based Jay Sharada Realtors and the Bangalore-based Celebrity Infrastructure placed bids for Rs 130 crore and Rs 140 crore, respectively - much below the assessed value of Rs 240 crore.

The court receiver will now prepare a report and present it to the court in a week.

The 6,041 square metre property was put on sale again for recovery of dues of Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank, UCO Bank and United Bank of India.

The property has been in the possession of the court receiver since March 2003, as the Bombay Stock Exchange-listed Apple Finance failed to pay the banks the principal of Rs 75 crore and accrued interest for the debentures that they held.

The earlier five auctions too had to be abandoned as bids received were much lower than the reserve price. The property was pledged as security against debentures issued to the banks.

Canara Bank, the trustee for the debentures which matured in 2001-02, offered interest rate of around 16 per cent. During earlier auctions, the highest bids ranged from Rs 91 crore to Rs 193 crore.

The now defunct non-banking finance company was promoted by the Atul Nishar-owned Apple Industries group and was engaged in leasing and hire purchase. The firm surrendered its certificate of registration to carry on business to the Reserve Bank of India in February 2002, following which its registration was annulled in January 2004.