SEBI orders Sahara Group to refund Rs 14,000 crore to investors; US revokes duty-free concession on import of 50 Indian products; IMF says monitoring situation in India; bats for RBI's independence; carmakers see lacklustre sales during festive season; Modi using nationalism to promote domestic payments network, RuPay: Mastercard. Watch more in this episode of Business Wrap.

SEBI orders Sahara Group to refund Rs 14,000 crore to investorsIn a major setback to Subrata Roy, SEBI has found that another Sahara group firm has raised over Rs 14,000 crore in violation of legal norms and has issued a fresh order on Wednesday to the company and its directors to refund the money to investors with 15 percent annual interest. The order relates to collecting funds between 1998 and 2009 from nearly 2 crore investors through through optionally fully convertible debentures (OFCD)...

The order states that the repayments must be done through non-transferrable bank demand draft or pay order.

The penalty has to be paid by the entities \"jointly and severally\". According to a SEBI order, Sumangal had collected Rs 85 crore from investors through illegal collective investment schemes.

The Plaza Hotel, one of New York's most iconic buildings in which Subrata Roy-led Sahara India group has majority stake, has been fully acquired by a Qatar government-owned fund for about $600 million, according to a media report today.

Mahindra and Piramal Groups may buy a portion of beleaguered Subrata Roy's Sahara Aamby Valley project in Pune, which is under the liquidation process initiated by the Supreme Court.

A bench comprising ChiefJustice Dipak Misra and Justices Ranjan Gogoi and AK Sikri also asked theofficial liquidator of the Bombay high court to take the help of the Receiverand ensure the Aamby Valley properties are properly auctioned.

The apex court also directed the Maharashtra Police chief to ensure that the property is handed over to the liquidator within 48 hours.

Sahara Group's luxury resort town Aamby Valley, which has been put up for auction by the Supreme Court, has found just a couple of parties who have shown interest in the bid.

Only two potential bidders are believed to have shown initial interest for embattled Sahara groups super luxurious Aamby Valley resort town, which has been put up for a Supreme Court ordered auction by the official liquidator at a reserve price of Rs 37,392 crore.

Earlier in July, the highest court had asked the Sahara chief to deposit Rs 1,500 crore in the SEBI-Sahara account by September 7. However, Subrata deposited only Rs 533.20 crore.

Embattled Sahara group today said a Dubai investment fund has agreed to provide a loan of USD 1.6 billion (over Rs 10,000 crore) against security of 26 per cent shares of its Aamby Valley project.

Big corporate houses such Tatas, Godrej, Adani and Patanjali apart from real estate developers including Omaxe and Eldeco have shown interest in buying Sahara group's 30 properties. But there's no knowledge if these companies will also bid for Aamby Valley.

The Official Liquidator (OL) for the Aamby Valley City in Lonavala has put up a reserve price of Rs. 37,392 crore, as part of efforts to partially recover the pending dues to various lenders.

The auction process will go on according to the schedule and can be stopped only if Subrata Roy deposits Rs 1,500 crore into the SEBI-Sahara refund account by September 7.

Sahara Group's counsel Kapil Sibal urged the Supreme Court to push back the date for publication of sales notice for Aamby Valley auction and give some time to review their repayment plan.