New Delhi, Aug. 25: The sale of Kohinoor Mill No. 3 in the heart of Mumbai ? bought by Bal Thackeray’s nephew and Manohar Joshi’s son for Rs 421 crore last month ? raked up dust in the Rajya Sabha today.

MPs asked textile minister Shankersinh Vaghela why mills were being turned over to real estate developers and wondered how some politicians could find the money to buy one.

Manoj Bhattacharya from the RSP asked if the minister would probe the deal and where the money had come from.

Kohinoor CTN Ltd, a special purpose vehicle of the Kohinoor Group controlled by Joshi’s son and Matoshree Realtors controlled by Raj Thackeray, bought the 4.9-acre mill on July 21. A special purpose vehicle is an entity created for a specific purpose ? in this case the purchase of prime mill land.

Milind Deora, the Congress MP from south Mumbai, asked why Section 58 of the Maharashtra Development Authority, which makes it mandatory to divide such land equally between the civic authority, the state housing board and mill workers, was changed in favour of the real estate developers.

Ved Prakash Goyal of the BJP, a Shiv Sena ally, also asked the government to come out with a white paper on the Kohinoor sale.

Responding to queries, Vaghela said the mill was purchased by Kohinoor CTN, which has Umesh Manohar Joshi and Madhvi Joshi, the son and daughter of Joshi, on its board.

The minister said the sale was transparent and added that members could ask the finance ministry for a probe.

According to rehabilitation schemes, 66 unviable mills are to be closed and 53 potentially viable mills are to revived with the sale proceeds, Vaghela said.

The Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) has approved rehabilitation schemes costing approximately Rs 3,900 crore. The government is committed to carry out capital restructuring costing nearly Rs 6,000 crore, Vaghela added.