New Delhi, Oct 19: Disinvestment minister Arun Shourie charged the NDA coalition partner Shiv Sena with "double speak" on disinvestment issues saying that the party had approached him on privatisation of a government hotel in Mumbai. Accusing Sena of seeking favour for hotelier Ajit Kerkar for acquisition of Centaur Juhu hotel in Mumbai, he told reporters that the ally had approached him repeatedly when Kerkar was unable to pay for the hotel and the government did not encash the bank guarantee. "Ask the Shiv Sena who rang me up four times to say that the hotel should be sold," Shourie said when asked about Sena`s reported stand that government had undersold the Centaur airport hotel.
After acquiring the Centaur airport hotel, Mumbai, for Rs 83 crore from government last year, Batra hospitalities recently sold the property to Sahara group reportedly for over Rs 100 crore, thus generating queries in some quarters about the valuation process adopted by the government.
Asked if the resale of the hotel had been in violation of lock-in period, Shourie clarified that since it was an outright sale there was no lock-in period prescribed in the transaction document that could bar transfer of property for a stipulated period. Bureau Report