Loan Recovery: SBI Consortium Takes Over Kingfisher House

Mumbai: Clamping down on Vijay Mallya-led UB Group to recover loans, a 17-bank consortium led by State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday took over possession of the prized Kingfisher House, estimated to be worth Rs 100 crore.

The banks have taken possession of the over 17,000-square feet property at Vile Parle, near the domestic airport here, as part of their efforts to recover the Rs 6,800 crore loan they had granted to the long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines.

Later, the airline said in a statement that on Tuesday it handed over possession of its property, Kingfisher House, to SBICAP Trustee, a security trustee for the consortium of the Kingfisher lenders.

This is "without prejudice to all of the rights, remedies and contentions of the company including the right to file appropriate proceedings to challenge the said order dated February 12, 2015", Kingfisher said.

The order, passed by a Chief Metropolitan Magistrate here, had allowed the banks to take over the possession as part of their recovery process, which they had started way back in February 2013 after the airline stopped servicing the debt.

Kingfisher House is one of the prime real estates of the airline, which was once touted as the most luxurious carrier in the country and one of the crown jewels of Mr Mallya-led UB Group. The airline was grounded in October 2012 while its flying permit was cancelled in December that year.

The other collateral left with the banks is Kingfisher Villa in Goa, which has a market value of under Rs 90 crore.

When contacted, a senior official from state-run SBI also confirmed the development regarding the possession of Kingfisher House.

When asked about the status of the Income Tax and Service Tax Departments' claim on the same property, SBI's deputy managing director and group executive for stressed assets management Parveen Kumar Malhotra told PTI that the lenders have to discuss that with the tax authorities and a decision would be taken only after that.