Vijay Mallya’s private jet was sold to Florida-based Aviation Management Sales at an e-auction conducted on Friday.

Since March 2016, after at least four aborted attempts, Last Friday, The service tax authorities succeeded to get a buyer for the confiscated luxury jet of Vijay Mallya, the runway businessman with a Florida-based Aviation Management Sales developing as the highest bidder for Rs 34.8 crore (USD 5.05 million), a source stated.

Mallya used to crisscross the world with his luxury A319 jet to solicit business deals hat the service tax authorities had put under the hammer to recover their duties to the tune of Rs 800 crore accumulated on account of non-payment of service tax before his erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines failed financially in October 2012.

Last Friday, the transaction was done through an e-auction, subsequent a Karnataka High Court order, the source said, since the confiscation of the jet in 2013, adding the jet has been parked at a storage place of the Mumbai airport.  

The deal will go concluded after the approval of the Bombay High Court.

"Mallyas private luxury jet has finally found a buyer at an e-auction conducted by the state-run auctioneer MSTC last Friday. The Florida-, US-based firm Aviation Management Sales LLC quoted the highest bid of Rs 34.8 crore and won the bid," the source voiced to PTI.

In March 2016, at the first auction attempt, the department had initially fixed Rs 152 crore as the reserve price.

In the first auction, in March 2016, as part of their attempt to recover money from the beleaguered businessman Mallya, who is facing deportation from London now, a sole bidder turned up and quoted a meagre Rs 1.09 crore, against the reserve price of Rs 152 crore. The department refused the bid and then dropped the reserve price by 10 per cent.

The plane was attached by the service tax department in December 2013.

After the Mumbai airport operator MIAL went to the Bombay High Court looking for a direction to the department citing huge amount of losses on account of the non- productive use of its space, the service tax department was forced to sell the aircraft.

The auction, in the past, had failed as the bids were much below the reserve price, which was initially cut to USD 12.5 million from USD 22.5 million.

The Bombay High Court had directed the official liquidator of the Karnataka High Court this January, who has been in charge of the assets and records of Kingfisher Airlines, to take required steps to take away the plane.