After four failed attempts since March 2016, India’s service tax authorities have sold Vijay Mallya’s luxury jet for ₹ 34.8 crore ($5.05 million) to Florida, US-based Aviation Management Sales. The service tax authorities had put up for auction the Airbus A319 luxury jet, which Mallya used to fly across the world to finalise business deals, to recover ₹ 800 crore in dues that had accumulated on account of non-payment of service tax by Kingfisher Airlines.
The transaction was completed on Friday through an e-auction, following a Karnataka high court order, said a person familiar with the development. The jet was parked at a hangar in Mumbai airport since it was confiscated in 2013. The deal will go through after the Bombay high court’s approval.