HDIL’s Rs 273-crore property tax dues highest in Mumbai

The now-bankrupt Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), whose promoters, the Wadhawans, are in jail in connection with the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank fraud case, owes Rs 273 crore to the BMC in property tax, making it the single biggest property tax defaulter in Mumbai, according to a civic official. The sum represents more than 10 per cent of property tax defaults across the entire city (Rs 2,644 crore). The BMC has now written to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which has attached HDIL’s properties – both stalled projects and private properties belonging to the Wadhawans – in order to auction them, saying it should be paid on a priority basis. A civic official said: “This is highest property tax due and we are afraid that this amount will be stuck for a long time. That is why we have written to the NCLT to auction the properties of HDIL and release the tax money as soon as possible.” HDIL owes the BMC more than Rs 21crore in tax on a single housing project – Majestic Tower – in Bhandup’s S Ward alone, the official told Mirror, making it the biggest defaulter in the ward. Work on the project is stalled and the BMC sealed the premises recently.