Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi's solar plant, Pedder Road flat up for auction to salvage PNB dues

In a bid to recover a portion of the over Rs 2,348 crore due, the Debt Recovery Tribunal-I in Mumbai has put up a solar power plant belonging to a group entity of the fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi. For the third time, reportedly, Modi's posh flat in the fashionable Pedder Road area of south Mumbai will also be auctioned off.

Located in Khandale village in Maharashtra, Modi's solar power plant has a capacity of 5.247wMW. Along with the plant and machinery, the solar plant is valued at Rs 12.40 crore. Modi's Pedder Road flat is on the second floor of Grosvenor Building, and proposed to be auctioned off as a fully furnished residence along with two parking lots, all collectively valued at Rs 11.70 crore.

In addition, the DRT-I plans to auction off two large land-parcels belonging to Nirav D. Modi and his group company, Firestone Trading Pvt. Ltd. Both the land parcels are currently mortgaged with the Union Bank of India, presumably in lieu of the loans it had extended to the diamantaire and his group companies.


The online auction shall be held on October 25 between 2-4 p.m. only, for all the listed assets, as per the DRT-I's notification.

Nirav was arrested in March 2019 on an extradition warrant based on Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) charges against the businessman.

There are three sets of criminal proceedings against the diamantaire in India – the CBI case of fraud on the PNB which caused losses equivalent to over GBP 700 million, the ED case relating to the alleged laundering of the proceeds of that fraud and a third set of criminal proceedings involving alleged interference with evidence and witnesses in the CBI proceedings.