The imposing Hotel Shalini Palace at Kolhapur, a heritage structure steeped in debt, will soon go under an auctioneer's hammer, a top official said.
The palace hotel has been taken over by Mumbai-based Saraswat Cooperative Bank Ltd, and its operations shut Dec 13, bank chairman Eknath Thakur confirmed.
"We had given the hotel management time to clear dues, along with interest and penalties, but they could not do it," Thakur told IANS.
Two years ago, the hotel management was similarly threatened with auction for defaulting on dues which are currently pegged at Rs. 35 crore, Thakur revealed.
Spread over 12 acres of lush greenery on the edge of the Rankala Lake, the structure is currently owned and managed by the Chougule Group, said an official who requested anonymity.
Saraswat Bank and United Bank of India are understood to have extended a loan of Rs. 60 crore to the hotel management, which has defaulted on repayment.
Thakur said that the auction proceedings will be initiated within a fortnight.
Hotel Shalini Palace was built by the Chhatrapati clan, who ruled large parts of Maharashtra. Construction work lasted four years, and the palace was ready for use in 1932. The final cost was a king's ransom in those days: Rs. 8 lakh.
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