The appropriate authority under the Income Tax Act, 1961 has put 40 commercial and residential properties on the block -- some of them are valued at over Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million) each.

But the auctions have been hanging fire as property prices have gone down drastically since their acquisition during the pre-1995 real estate market crash.

Some of the properties put under the hammer are prime pieces of real estate in commercial areas such as Raheja Centre, Mittal Court at Nariman Point and in Kakad Chambers at Worli.

Others are top end and middle segment residential properties, some of which are worth over Rs 3 crore (Rs 30 million).

Residential properties have taken the biggest hit, for instance, the value of an apartment at Andheri, which was acquired by the authority for Rs 25 lakh (Rs 2.5 million) has eroded by half. Its market value as on June 30, 2002, in the authority's records stands at Rs 11.23 lakh (Rs 1.12 million).

Some commercial properties have also shown similar value erosion. The property at Raheja Centre has plunged from Rs 2.25 crore (Rs 22.5 million) at the time of its appropriation to Rs 1.08 crore (Rs 10.8 million) in June 2002.

The properties had been acquired under section 20 C of the I-T Act to counter the element of black money in real estate deals.

For instance, as per the 'norm', sellers would take the consideration for a property partly in white, usually around 60 per cent, and the balance in cash (40 per cent). So, in case of a property valued at Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million), around Rs 40 lakh (Rs 4 million) would escape the tax net.

The authority's modus operandi, in case of suspect deals, was to purchase the property for the consideration (60 per cent) mentioned in Form 37 (I) submitted to it for its no-objection certificate.

According to a source, "The provision had greatly helped in curbing underhand dealings in real estate sale. The white to black ratio improved from 60:40 a decade ago to 90:10 when the section was operative."

The chapter had been removed from the Act on July 1, 2002.