Everything You Need To Know About The Ambani Yacht ‘Tian’!!!

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13 May 2009 No Comment

ow there has been buzz about the Anil Ambani yacht “Tian” which currently according to the leading media publications has been confiscated or detained by the custom authorities of India due to improper registration.

For all those who missed out and are not updated, Giira Yachts has compiled an article providing details of the entire fiasco that has taken place in the Indian waters.

Quick Facts –

Yacht Purchased in Oct 08 by Ammolite Holdings.
The yacht has been seized by the custom officials in Feb of 2009.
Rs25 crores paid to customs as deposit for repossession of the yacht which was denied.
Ammolite Holdings (ADAG group co) filed the petition in Bombay High Court challenging seizure of the yacht.
Assistant Commissioner of Customs S R Vichare stated that the yacht had violated Section 111(m) of the Customs Act, hence is liable for confiscation.
ADAG claiming the boat to be a foreign flag boat, hence does not require any import duty to be paid in India.
The court has given time to ADAG until May 8^th 09 to reply to the allegation that yacht was imported in violation of statutory provisions of the Customs Act.

What the Indian customs say? – According to the Indian customs there has been a fraud in the import of the Tian by the ADAG group. According to Customs department the yacht was imported in contravention of Section 111(m) of the Customs Act, hence, is liable for confiscation.

The customs department says that it was declared as a transshipment cargo – on which duty is not paid – and that it was a used and not a new yacht. The yacht came into India on another cargo ship. The customs department claims show, that according to the documents, was headed to Colombo. The yacht was brought to India and its possession was given to ADAG by way of charter from a foreign company and was declared as TP cargo, the customs department alleged.

“The petitioner has indulged in smuggling by violating the provisions of the Act and in league with others to evade duties,” Assistant Commissioner of Customs SR Vichare had stated in reply to the petition.

It was bought by Ammolite Holdings last October and it has been chartered by Reliance Transport and Travels Ltd, another ADAG. the payment for the purschase was made by Gateway Net Trading, another ADAG associate of Reliance Communications. Both these companies are in non-taxable jurisdictions.

What did ADAG have to say? -
The ADAG group has always maintained that the boat was never bought for India. ADAG claims that the boat was bought by Ammolite Holdings is a foreign flag vessel (owned or registered outside India) and does not come under the Indian custom / import jurisdiction therefore is not liable for any import duties.

Any boat of foreign flag is permitted to voyage anywhere in the world but does require to be present in the registered country time to time.

They have also stated that the assistant commissioner (imports) had passed an order in November last year allowing the boat to sail on its own as an independent ship and that order was still in force

ADAG companies, Ammolite Holdings and Reliance Transport and Travel Pvt Ltd, who filed petition, contended that action of Customs was arbitrary, unreasonable and invalid.

The petitioners contended that though the levy of customs duty was questionable, they had deposited Rs 25 crores which secure more than 95 per cent of the duty, if any, payable.

The customs department is now demanding another Rs 15 crore as bank guarantee before it allows a provisional release of this yacht and an additional Rs 3 crore in duty. ADAG is disputing that claim.

The Boat - The “Tian” is a beautiful luxurious yacht and one of the finest yachts to set foot in India. The Tian is a Custom line 112 model which is manufactured by one of finest yacht makers ‘The Ferretti Group’. She is 112feet in length. The boat has been named Tian based on the initials of ‘Tina & Anil’ and it is a gift from Anil to his wife. She (Tian) comes fully equipped with the 5 cabins (10berths) & 6 bathrooms and is considered the Rolls Royce on waters.

Cost of the Tian – Now most publications out there have mentioned that the Indian custom authorities have valued the yacht at Rs400 crores (approx $80million), while there are many international boating websites that have tagged the same ‘Customline 112′ 2009 model at a price of approx Rs70 Crores (EUR 10,670,000 £ 9,550,897) Ex UK price. Assuming if the boat was to pay custom duty in India, there would be a charge of 35% (import duty charge on yacht) on the boat cost, which would still add up to Rs94.5 crores (70 + 24.5). Click here to verify the price of the boat.

That’s all for now… Keep coming back for more updated information regarding this issue.

(kindly note this article has been formed purely based on the news available in leading Indian publications.)