Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Realtor Pintu Chhabra may buy out Madhya Pradesh's first mall-cum-multiplex

The ownership of MP’s first mall-cum-multiplex, Treasure Island, might soon change hands, with Indore’s real estate tycoon Pintu Chhabra holding talks with promoters of the shopping mall located on the MG Road.


Treasure Island mall was closed for renovation four months ago

The Rs 285-crore deal, however, will take around a month to mature, insiders say.
The plush mall-cum-multiplex has been at the centre of controversy ever since it was inaugurated in 2005.
Three years back, in 2012, the Madhya Pradesh high court had directed the CBI to probe into the role of former state chief minister Digvijaya Singh in an alleged irregularity in the construction of the mall.
However, the CBI in March 2014 had given the senior Congress leader a clean chit in the case.
The mall, developed by EWDPL, faced rough weather after promoter Manish Kalani defaulted on a loan taken from the Allahabad Bank.
The bank, which has to recover more than Rs 140 crore, had issued an auction notice for Treasure Island in February 2015.
However, the auction, which was scheduled for March 30, did not take place.
"The deal amount (Rs 285 crore) is inclusive of the (loan) sum that will be paid back to the bank," a source told Hindustan Times.
Kalani could not be contacted for comments, while Chhabra declined to affirm the reports of the buyout.
With a floor area of about six lakh square feet, the swanky mall-cum-multiplex has been a favourite shopping destination for the city’s upwardly mobile for the past many years.
The mall has been closed for the past four months for renovation work and is scheduled to reopen in August.
Case agaonst 11
In February 2009, the state bureau of investigation for economic offences, commonly known as the EOW, lodged an FIR against 11 people, including the former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, former MP housing board chairperson Chandraprabhash Shekhar and three IAS officers for giving undue benefits to the promoters of the mall. However, the EOW in May 2012 cleared Digvijay Singh of any wrong doings.

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