The Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) retained Taj Mansingh hotel in an e-auction with rival ITC Hotels.

AT 32.5 Percent of Gross Turnover, Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) won the e-auction by beating ITC group to operate the Taj Mansingh in New Delhi. IHCL now has to pay Rs 65 crore annually for Taj Mansingh property. Taj Mansingh was given to the Tata Group in 1978 on a lease for 33 years, which ended in 2011. The company was since given nine temporary extensions. The civic body, since 2011, has made 23 attempts to sell the property.

The auction of the property, which had been entangled in a sour legal battle between NDMC and IHCL, was originally scheduled for January 30 but could not materialise due to stiff terms and conditions that ruled out many entities. The auction could not proceed on the next scheduled date of June 19 because there was only one bid, from IHCL.

The NDMC then announced a new date of July 18, but the auction got annulled again with just two, IHCL and ITC Hotels, making bids.

IHCL reported a profit after tax of Rs 101 crore and consolidated revenues of Rs 4,165 crore for the financial year 2017-18, turning profitable for the first time in six years. It announced the signing of new hotels in markets like Makkah, Kathmandu, Dubai and London this year besides launching the first luxury resort in Andamans and new signings for Indian cities like Katra, Jhansi and Vishakhapatnam across its brands.