The Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has so far incurred costs of more than Rs 55 crore in the high-profile Sahara case.

As per the capital market regulator's initial estimates, storage & scanning of investor documents and facilitating Rs 24,000-crore refund to two Sahara firms' bondholders have so far cost it Rs 55.85 crore.

Sebi explained that it contracted Stock Holding Corp of India (SHCIL) to handle work related to storage, digitization and scanning of bondholders' documents and to create a database, for Rs 25.97 crore.

Another contract for the work related to redemption related activities was handed over to UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services for Rs 29.88 crore.

The final expense bill is expected to soar further, and the Sahara Group will have to clear all the hefty bills.

In addition to the aforementioned expenses, the Supreme Court of India has appointed a retired judge to supervise the matter at a monthly remuneration of Rs 5 lakh besides other expenses like traveling and accommodation. All of these expenses are currently borne by Sebi and recoverable from Sahara Group.

All the administrative expenses, including payments to experts and additional staff, would also be finally recovered from Sahara Group.