New Delhi, May 1: DLF, Unitech and ICT Bangalore have emerged as key bidders in the first qualifying round of technical bids for a 300-acre plot in Noida, put up for sale by the Noida Development Authority.

Touted to be one of the biggest land auctions in recent times, the plot is expected to fetch between Rs 3,000 crore and Rs 5,000 crore.

However, smaller builders have moved Allahabad High Court to stall the process.

Noida Development Authority CEO Sanjiv Saran said after evaluation of the technical bids, the financial bids would be opened. This would take some time as over 2,500 pages were to be scrutinised by the committee.

However, some of the smaller players, who have been excluded from the bidding process, have filed a petition at Allahabad High Court on the issue. They allege that the authorities have imposed tough eligibility criteria to keep them out. The bidding process is subject to a final decision from the court.

Regarding the PIL, Saran said the court has not given a stay order over the scheme. May 9 is the next date of hearing in the case.

“Though we can’t say anything till the financial bids take place, if we go by the size of land, so far there has been no offering of this scale in the national capital region,” said Anshuman Magazine, managing director, CB Richard Ellis.

“If we go by the recent trend, where auctions have fetched a higher-than-the-reserve price, this bid could also go in that direction,” Magazine said.

Some of the traders also held protests outside the Noida Development Authority office against the stringent qualifying rules.

DLF Universal Ltd was part of the joint venture that recently won the auction for a 35.8-acre residential plot of Delhi Development Authority in a Rs 450-crore deal.

Among the big land acquisition deals in recent times, DLF & Akruti Nirman last year purchased the Kohinoor Mill No.3, Elphinstone Mills and Mumbai Textile Mill in Mumbai.

Real estate consultants had viewed the deal as a defining moment for the Mumbai real estate market with long-term ramifications.

Mumbai Textile Mill had sold 16.5 acres for Rs 702 crore under the National Textile Corporation Ltd’s land selloff scheme. In Mumbai again, Reliance Industries had set a new record when it bought a 7.5-hectare plot in the Bandra Kurla Complex for Rs 1,104 crore.

After these, the auction in Noida is expected to be one of the biggest land deals in recent times.

As the real estate industry is set for an exponential growth in coming years, real estate consultants feel that the process of acquiring huge chunks of land by bidders will continue.