State Bank of India (SBI) has taken the decision to sell Palm Beach Resort at auction.

The four-star resort operated at Lhaviyani Atoll was reportedly mortgaged to the bank for loans taken by two companies. The loan was borrowed by Guardian Agency Pvt Ltd and Monaza Construction Pvt. Ltd who were unable to pay their dues.

The public auction announced by SBI stated that the bid will begin at $35 million (MVR 539.7 million). The security deposit fee to participate in the auction alone is $10,000 transferred to the State Bank of India.

The announcement stated that the consecutive bid accepted by SBI has to be $500,000 more than the starting bid and that the winner of the auction is required to pay up $1 million of the full amount that was bid, within 2 working days from the award. SBI also announced that the remaining amount from the bid should be submitted in full within the next 10 working days following successful bid. Should the party fail to pay the full amount within the 10 working days, SBI reserves the right to hold $100,000 from the $1 million initially paid.

The announcement also declared that if the initial winner of the auction fails to make the payment, the resort would default to the second highest bid.

The deadline set for the submission of a bid to participate in the auction held by SBI is 5:00 p.m. today.