I will still go ahead if the govt wants to sell a hotel: Kerkar

Ask Kerkar, and he gets agitated. ‘‘I have paid

Rs 52 crore more than the government’s reserve price and invested another Rs 29 crore in voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) which was accepted by 570 employees… on what basis are they saying the deal was not transparent?’’ he says, from his plush Nariman Point office in downtown Mumbai.

For Kerkar, the politics behind the inquiry has started to hurt financially. According to him, the hotel’s remaining 205 employees are now asking for a quick clearance for the VRS package in anticipation of delays thanks to the inquiry promised by finance minister P Chidambaram.

Moreover, his plan to sell a part or the whole hotel (now named Tulip Star) to a clutch of Mumbai-based builders has come to a standstill. Kerkar says that after the controversy, his partners are in two minds whether to buy the property from him or not.

Of course, for a man in the midst of a deal, Kerkar answers in generalities when asked about his estimate of the value of the property today.

‘‘Just look how the valuations of all hotel companies have jumped in the last three years. Taking peer valuations into account, I should get at least Rs 1,700 crore for Centaur on my investment of Rs 170 crore,’’ says Kerkar. Market reports put the value at under Rs 400 crore.

That’s a far cry from early 2002, when Kerkar — who has been credited with making the Taj group of hotels what it is today — says that, post 9/11, he had taken a big risk in bidding for Centaur. Then, not a single bidder had submitted even Rs 5 lakh as earnest money.

‘‘I did not ask anybody to withdraw from buying the hotel. The hotel industry was in such a big crisis that no one was investing in hotels. I saw an opportunity and went ahead with it in spite of objections from my own board who said I bid too high,’’ says Kerkar.

When asked about the government’s decision to give him an extension to complete his bid, Kerkar says, ‘‘Shourie gave me an extension as no public sector bank can sanction and disburse a loan within four weeks. Shourie called the bankers and asked them whether they will support my bid. Only when they said yes, then Shourie gave me an extension.’’.

Asked how he was so bullish on Centaur — which found no takers — Kerkar shoots back: ‘‘I am an hotelier for the last 40 years. I don’t think I have done anything wrong. This was a great opportunity. I will still go ahead if the government privatises any other hotel.’’

When asked about Left government’s plans to sell Great Eastern hotel in downtown Kolkata, Kerkar says he tried three times to buy that hotel — twice wearing the Tulip hat and once as the CEO of Indian Hotels. ‘‘Jyotibabu wanted a foreigner to run that hotel and did not sell it to me. And that is why it is in such a mess. The Left should be blamed for decaying such a prestigious and huge asset.’’