The auction process has been resumed after the previous tender was seen to be too restrictive in terms of eligibility norms for bidders. Under those norms, only a handful like Taj, Oberoi, and ITC could have bid for the prime Mansingh Road hotel.

New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has announced the auction of Taj Mansingh to be held on June 19 adding that the bidders will have to submit bids by June 7.

The auction process has been resumed after the previous tender was seen to be too restrictive in terms of eligibility norms for bidders. Under those norms, only a handful like Taj, Oberoi, and ITC could have bid for the prime Mansingh Road hotel.

The e-auction for the property was originally supposed to take place on January 30. But the eligibility norm then meant only groups already running five-star hotels in India could bid for Taj Mansingh. Such groups were to have at least 500 rooms in not more than five 5-star properties and a sizeable net worth and operational income from hotels. This left out financial investors and foreign hotel operators.

The iconic Mansingh Road property was given to Tata Group’s Taj Hotels on a lease for 33 years, which ended in 2011. In the now-scrapped tender, NDMC had kept a minimum reserve price of Rs 32.2 Crore for Taj Mansingh.

The earlier tender had called for a minimum revenue share arrangement of 17.25 percent of the gross revenue and a minimum guarantee fee of about Rs three Crore per month, subject to escalation, to be paid by the successful bidder.