Bank of Baroda takes part-possession of Nirmal Mall – Hindustan Times

Mumbai: Bank of Baroda (BoB) has taken part-possession of Nirmal Mall on LBS Road in Nahur after failing to repay a loan of ₹161.38 crore.

In December, the bank had served a demand notice directing the mall and its managing director Dharmesh Jain to repay the borrowed sum within 60 days.

However, when the developer failed to pay up, the Zonal Stressed Asset Recovery Branch of the bank had initiated possession action on January 24 under the provisions of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002.

The bank notice said it has taken possession of 3,40,787 square feet of the immovable property spread over 51,700 square metre.

One of the earliest malls to come up in the city in early 2000s, Nirmal Mall had its share of spotlight when some of the top brands like Big Bazaar, Pizza Hut and Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri had their retail outlets in the mall. Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s restaurant—Tendulkars—also had an outlet in the mall.

However, the mall has been an empty space for some time after its open roof design failed to sustain the footfalls. “Unlike the franchisee model where the mall owner can control the branded outlets based on their performance and actual footfalls, the Nirmal Mall had an ownership model where the outlets were sold to the retailer and the mall owner had no control over its retail offerings,” a real estate analyst said.

The Nirmal Lifestyle Group has been facing financial issues for some time, leading to a host of complaints to housing regulator Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) from home-buyers of several stalled projects in Kalyan and Mulund.

Lenders of Nirmal’s US Open project in Mulund, which was left incomplete by the group, had initiated action under the SARFAESI and handed over the project to Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate in 2019.

When contacted, a Nirmal Lifestyle spokesperson said, “We are in talks with the bank. We are confident that we will find an amicable solution shortly.”