Country's largest lender, the State Bank of India on Wednesday conducted a mega electronic auction of commercial, retail and residential properties to recover dues and said that it will notify the successful bidders in the coming days.
The SBI had earlier taken to Twitter to announce this, saying: "Mark your calendar to participate as a bidder in the SBI Mega E-Auction that will take place on February 26, 2020. Register and get a chance to purchase properties at a much lower rate."
Bank officials said these were small retail and industrial properties whose owners were defaulting and which the SBI was selling through auction to recover the amounts.
The property details are only given to the registered bidders after they logged into the demarcated website and deposited the earnest money, and submitted KYC documents along with a digital signature. Thereafter, log in details and passwords were given for bidding. The information about these properties was not public.
SBI officials said they are detailing the bids for properties. These open plots, and commercial, residential and industrial properties, are located in New Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, Shahjahanpur, Badanpur, and Lucknow, Kerala's Kottayam, Kollam, and Palakkad, West Bengal's Burdwan, and Nadia, Tamil Nadu's Karur, Nilgris, Erode, Tiruppur, Tindivanam, Coimbatore, and Namakkal, Rajasthan's Jaipur, Gujarat's Amreli, Ahmedabad, and Anand, Maharashtra's Jalgaon, Nandurbar, and Nagpur, Odisha's Boripada, Jharkhand's Ramgarh, Chattisgarh's Durg among others.
Many of these properties are already pledged as collateral for housing and other business loans and taken over by the bank under the Security and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (Sarfaesi) Act, the officials said adding the prospective bidders have been given all the details.
Officials said the reserve price has been disclosed to the bidders beforehand. Those interested in the bid have to deposit an initial amount of 10 to 15 percent of the value of the property.
"We, at SBI, are very transparent when putting immovable properties, mortgaged with the bank/attached by court order to auction, by furnishing all the relevant details that can make it an attractive proposition for bidders to participate in the auctions," the bank had tweeted.
The bank stated that it had furnished all relevant details regarding whether the properties were freehold or leasehold, their measurements, and locations among others.
