Captain Gopinath, a pioneer in the aviation industry and who made air travel affordable to the common man in India, is understood to have decided to sell out his prime land property in Bangalore's off Vittal Mallya Raod to remit Rs 259 crore debt to State Bank of India. Media reports said that he took the decision in a desperate bid to prevent a possible auction of the land property.    

SBI had earlier issued public auction notices to him to sell his pledged properties to recover its loan. Sobha Developers in Bangalore is said to have come forward to buy Gopinath's 16,200 sq feet land in the heart of the IT capital of India.    

Through this transaction with Sobha, Gopinath has managed to escape the auction of his residential property. However, he will still have to work out ways to clear the rest of the debt from SBI.    

The price starts at around Rs 21,000 per sq ft on Vittal Mallya road. The property, located off Vittal Mallya Road, is valued at around Rs 40 crore. Sobha, one of the largest publicly-held realtors in India, has got the title deeds, but not yet decided how the same will be developed in the future, sources said.    

The property, is adjacent to UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya’s family bungalow in Bangalore, which was also razed to make way for an uber-luxurious apartment complex to free UB Group from some of its debts, taken for the grounded Kingfisher Airlines.