New Delhi: After an unsuccessful first attempt at auctioning Delhi’s iconic luxury hotel Taj Mansingh, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has decided to conduct a fresh bid for the property on July 18.

The much-delayed auction, which was to be held this month, was cancelled since only Tata Group’s Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) – the existing operator – bid for retaining the property. The bid of the only other participant, ITC, was not accepted on technical grounds.

The civic body had issued an annulment notice for the e-auction last week.

“Less than three bids were received for the property and as per norms three technically qualified bidders are required for the e-auction process to the second stage. Hence, the auction process stands annulled,” the notice read.

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. However, the civic body could not auction the property then as it was tied up in a legal battle with IHCL.

Iconic luxury hotel Taj Mansingh to finally go under hammer for auction:

The hotel was open for site visits by prospective bidders between June 16 and 22. The NDMC will conduct a pre-bid meeting tomorrow and the last date for submission of bids is July 9.

The criterion of three minimum qualified bids has been retained in the latest re-tendering process. The lease period, which was 33 years in the first tender, has not been changed as well. The bid security amount of Rs 250 million, too, is unchanged.

The Tata group had acquired three-star hotel “The Connaught” in an auction this week. The civic body also auctioned Hotel Asian International this week which was acquired by Bloom Hospitality Group.

The NDMC had last year decided to auction Hotel Connaught and re-auction Asian Hotel, after these were sealed by it in 2015 due to non-payment of licence fees.

In January last year, the Asian Hotel was e-auctioned fetching Rs 45.5 lakh per month as licence fee, the highest-ever for the agency. But the bidder later refused to take the property necessitating a re-auction.