INDIAN tycoon Subrata Roy is putting up the New York Plaza, London’s Grosvenor House, and another luxury New York hotel for sale to raise US$1.6 billion for the bail bond that will get him out of Tihar, a sprawling New Delhi prison complex that houses about 12,000 inmates.

    About a minute’s walk from the headquarters of the prison, Roy now has a 56-square-meter office where he can hold video conferences and receive visitors to try and sell or mortgage the hotels, say prison officials.

    “Our work will be done now,” Roy told a senior prison officer after moving to the new office-cum-cell, according to the official.

    It’s a race against time for the 66-year-old head of the Sahara conglomerate: Under a deadline set by the Supreme Court, Roy has just a few days left to post the 100 billion rupees in cash and bank guarantees that would secure his release.

    The only higher bail ever appears to be a US$3 billion bond set by a judge in Texas in 2004 for a wealthy fugitive, although that was reduced to US$450,000 on appeal.

    Roy was jailed in March after he failed to appear at a contempt hearing in the long-running dispute with the capital markets watchdog over the company’s failure to repay billions of dollars to investors who were sold outlawed bonds.

    One asset that could raise quick cash is the landmark New York Plaza Hotel — a 107-year-old luxury property that overlooks Central Park. Studded with chandeliers, the hotel’s decor recalls the Great Gatsby era.(SD-Agencies)