Govt seals Aamby Valley for non-payment of dues of over Rs 4 crore

The Sahara Group-owned Aamby Valley Resort has been sealed by the government for the non-payment of dues. 

The Lonavala-based property was sealed by Mulshi Taluka Tahsildar for the non-payment of non-agricultural tax of Rs 4.82 crore.

Aamby Valley was recently in the news after an Indian regulator found that nearly Rs 15 billion had been pumped into the project to keep it afloat. What it also found was that the company was consistently funnelling money from small savers and was invested into one of the largest projects of the Group through two of its credit cooperatives. This was done by way of investments in preference shares.

The investments were being made even as some investors in its credit cooperatives complained they had struggled to get Sahara to pay out their matured time deposits -- even for sums as low as Rs 30,000. While the investments into the project aren't illegal, some experts say if Sahara is using deposits from the cooperative societies to finance Aamby Valley, members of the cooperatives might face difficulty recouping their money.

That's because the conglomerate is under pressure to sell off some of its prized assets to pay off investors in a savings deposit scheme that Supreme Court has declared illegal.