The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Friday purchased for Re 1 a shop whose owner had failed to clear property tax dues to the tune of over Rs 1crore. The market value of the shop is approximately Rs 2.25 crore.
As per AMC officials, taxes for the office of Sterling Security Ltd on the first floor of Chinubhai Tower had not been paid since 1997. The annual tax for the shop is Rs 95,000.
Over the years, the amount touched Rs 1,00,43,000. Eventually, AMC put up the property for auction with base price of Rs 1crore for the shop with area of 300 sq m. However, only one bidder turned up for the auction, and quoted Rs 35 lakh.
Since the bid was very low, the estate department of AMC bought the shop for a token amount of Rs 1. Dipak Patel, deputy tax assessor of tax department at AMC, said, “We put the shop for auction. But only one bidder arrived and started the bidding at a very low price. So, we cancelled it and instead decided to buy the property.”
He added, “If the Sterling Security Ltd wants the property back, it will have to pay the tax and administrative charges.”
