The Income Tax (I-T) Department has objected to cigarette maker Golden Tobacco's (GT's) plans to sell 5.5 acre of land in suburban Mumbai that could fetch the company up to Rs 100 crore.

The department has initiated recovery proceedings against the company. Hence, GT was not "competent to mortgage, charge, lease or otherwise deal with any property, except with the permission of the tax recovery officer", the department said in a public notice issued in newspapers today.

The Appellate Authority for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction, on an appeal by the department, had also ordered to maintain status quo in the matter, the notice said. The company, which has moved all its manufacturing activities out of Mumbai, had issued a tender last week inviting online bids for a 5.5-acre plot in the Marol Industrial Area, pegging reserve price at Rs 50 crore. The auction is scheduled for August 31. Realty analysts had opined that the winning bid could go up to Rs 100 crore, considering advantages like proximity to the international airport.

According to reports, the company had sold a plot at suburban Vile Parle in Mumbai early this year for a whopping Rs 591 crore. GT had slipped into the red in the June quarter, registering a net loss of Rs 25.02 crore.