New Delhi: Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, and his wife, Nita Ambani have the most lavish mansion the Antilia, is one of the most expensive private residences in the world, valued at a whopping Rs 15000 crore, if we convert in to USD dollars then it will around USD 1.74 billion. However, the land upon which Ambani’s grand 27-storey stands today originally belonged to an orphanage, and the land deal has been mired in controversy for nearly three decades since the Reliance Industries chairman purchased it in 2005. Means if we discuss the pricing of this Antilia, then when Mukesh Ambani paid a mere $2.5 million, but if we discuss the market value of this land, it was $18 million when Mukesh Ambani purchased this land.
If we discuss what was there before Antilia, when there was only land, if we discuss this, then according to details, Antilia was built on a piece of land where the Currimbhoy Ebrahim Yateemkhan, an orphanage built by a wealthy businessman, and Sir Fazalbhoy Currimbhoy Ebrahim, used to stand. The Currimbhoy, who belonged to the Khoja Muslim community, built the orphanage in 1895 for orphans and destitute children of his community. Over the years, the Currimbhoy Ebrahim orphanage came under the control and management of the Maharashtra state Wakf board, which received permission to sell it to Mukesh Ambani owned Muffin Antilia Commercial Private Limited in 2002.
Now we will discuss how much Mukesh Ambani paid for the Antilia land. Then, if we research the reports from those reports, we know that Mukesh Ambani paid a mere $2.5 million for the land against a market value of $18 million. Later, the Ambanis sought permission to build their grand home on the property. The building plan was approved by the BMC in 2003, and construction began in 2006. When Mukesh Ambani purchased the piece of land for Antilia, then Mukesh Ambani faced many controversies on this matter. The Bombay High Court has filed more illegally sold to Mukesh Ambani in 2005.
When Mukesh Ambani purchased this land piece for their expensive Mansion home, Antilia has faced many legal issues and battles. Maharashtra State Board of Wakfs deemed the transaction illegal and sent a notice to Antilia Commercial, citing violation of Section 52 of the Wakfs Act, 1995. Which deals with the recovery of Wakf’s property transferred in contravention of Section 51, which bars the sale of any immovable Wakf property without the sanction of the Wakf Board.
The notice was challenged before a Wakf tribunal on April 22, 2004, and the CEO of the state board of Wakfs settled the issue as per Section 72 of the Wakf Act, 1995. In the recent statement, AIMIM leader and Hyderabad MP, Asaduddin Owaisi, claimed the land on which Ambani’s Antilia was built was only meant to be used for charitable purposes, however, the trust violated that mandate by selling the estate to Mukesh Ambani.
