Nandan Nilekani shells out Rs 22.5 crore for sea-facing Mumbai apartment
In Mumbai's property market, records don't stay for long.
In one of the most expensive apartment transactions in India, InfosysBSE 0.84 % co-founder Nandan Nilekani paid about Rs 1.29 lakh per sq ft, or Rs 22.5 crore, for a sea-facing apartment in the marquee Samudra Mahal building at Worli in South Mumbai, three people familiar with the matter said.
The deal for the 1,750-sq-ft three-bedroom property is the second most expensive transaction ever on a per-sq-ft basis for a residential apartment in the country. Nilekani has bought this apartment on the 17th floor though a privately held company.
Recently, Nilekani was in the news after he bought a bungalow on a six-acre plot in Tamil Nadu's Coonoor district. The bungalow, The Gables, had been the home of the grandfather of Alan Turing, the British computer scientist and mathematician who is often called the father of the modern computer.
Pravin Agarwal, seller of the Samudra Mahal apartment, is chairman of Sterlite Power Grid Ventures and brother of Vedanta Resources Chairman Anil Agarwal. Anil Agarwal also owns a bungalow, a duplex and another three-bedroom apartment in the Samudra Mahal complex.
Nilekani didn't respond to an email seeking comment. In a text message, Pravin Agarwal's son Pratik Agarwal said the family won't comment on the matter. The previous transaction at Samudra Mahal was concluded at Rs 1.11 lakh per sq ft in October 2014, when Siddharth Yog, founder chairman of private-equity Xander Group, bought a sea-facing 3,640-sq-ft, fourbedroom duplex for Rs 40.5 crore. The latest purchase was at a rate just short of the odd Darshan Heights deal executed in 2013 at Rs 1.35 lakh a sq ft. That property on the tony Mount Pleasant Road in South Mumbai's Malabar Hill locality was bought by Bulchandanis, a prominent business family. The duplex came with a 1,400-sq-ft terrace and 700-sq-ft garage.
Nilekani's property deal clearly defies the ongoing sluggishness in the property market and indicates the unabated demand for marquee and established properties. Samudra Mahal is known as one of the most expensive residential properties across the country. The family of Narayana Murthy, another Infosys co-founder, also owns a large sea-facing apartment in the building.
"As far as properties like Samudra Mahal, with its established gentry of high-profile occupiers, are concerned, they continue to fetch benchmark prices irrespective of where the market stands," said Rajiv Jain of Ruchika Sheltor, a property broking firm operating in South Mumbai. "Sale of penthouses and duplex apartments in prime buildings of South Mumbai has been slower for the last few quarters, but buyers have also realised that supply of ready material in this segment is restricted," he said. "Sales traction in this segment is also gaining momentum as buyers see an opportunity."
Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com; Kailash Babar
