Raj’s Firm Made Rs 300cr By Selling Stake In Mill?

MUMBAI: As a politician, the MNS chief Raj Thackeray reason for existence can be declared his love for Marathi. But in his avatar as

businessman, money is the language that appears to be more familiar with.

The politician that doubles as a builder has achieved great success with the sale of its stake in Kohinoor Mill No. 3 at Shivaji Park. Business Partner Infrastructure Matoshree Thackeray and president Rajan Shirodkar told TOI on Saturday that left the project six months ago by the discharge of its share to a profit of Rs 62 million rupees.

However, bankers and real estate experts believe the real benefit could be considerably higher, due to the current rates. President Matoshree revealed that five banks with funds from the consortium that bought 4.8 acres of property for Kohinoor Rs 421 million rupees in mid-2005 – almost 88 million rupees rupees per acre. Thackeray is a director of Matoshree Infrastructure, its other partners to Kohinoor Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi, and Group Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services.

When Matoshree left the project sometime in April, the property, including land and construction, was valued at Rs 1,050 million rupees, according to Shirodkar.

Each of the three partners held an equal one third share of the project, he added. Assuming Matoshree third stake claim to the appreciation in value of the original purchase price of Rs 421 million rupees (ie, Rs 629 million rupees), the margin could have been more substantial than the RS 62 crore , according to property specialists.

Explaining why Matoshree left the project, Shirodkar said:”We had planned for a mall, but later realized it would not work at all, especially after the market crashed and the rent for lease in shopping centers dropped from 600 rupees per square foot per month under 200/sf rupees.”

”After the completion of the works in the basement, we realized that it would be difficult to manage a shopping center with such low rent in the city of the island,”said Shirodkar. The construction work was stalled for several months due to change of plans. Son Manohar Joshi, the Unmesh, Kohinoor Group chief, told this newspaper on Saturday that the project plans had already been redesigned for a single commercial tower. The sources said a number of local entrepreneurs in the financial community had originally invested money powerfulKutchi in Millproject Kohinoor.

In 2005, when NTC make this factory on the block, virtually every major builder in Mumbai and New Delhi had expressed interest. But instead of the fierce struggle that many had expected, only three manufacturers back when they opened the bids. This has led to raised eyebrows. The two other bidders were Varun Industries (Rs 411.11 million offer rupees) and Akruti Nirman (Rs 355 million rupees).

Interestingly, just months after the sale in 2005, Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam had alleged that funds were used hidden in Madagascar. Manohar Joshi then replied that was funded by banks and private investors.

Tags: Business, Mills, Raj Thackeray