The National Textile Corporation (NTC) has decided to sell around 40 acres of mill land in Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Udaipur.

This will be the second such sale by the ailing state-owned company. In December 2005, it garnered Rs 2,500 crore (Rs 25 bn) from auction of five mill sites in Mumbai.

A senior government official said the value of the land had been estimated at a conservative Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 bn). However, given that the land parcels are located in prime areas, their auction could fetch much higher prices. Three independent valuers have been appointed to assess the land value.

 National Textile Corporation will relocate its mills from the four cities to lower cost locations. The Finlay mill in Parel, Mumbai, will be moved to Nagpur, while the Bangalore-based Minerva mill will be shifted to Hassan, also in Karnataka.

 The Udaipur Cotton Mill will be relocated to Beawar, also in Rajasthan, while the Ahmedabad-based Rajnagar Textile Mill No-1, located in the heart of the city, will be shifted to an industrial suburb.