DMart founder buys Mumbai property for record Rs 1,001 cr

In the biggest residential property transaction in the country, DMart founder Radhakishan Damani and his brother Gopikishan have purchased a bungalow property at Narayan Dabholkar Road in South Mumbai for a record Rs 1,001 crore.

Property market sources quoted in media reports said the bungalow, Madhu Kunj, is located on prime 1.5-acre land with a built-up area of more than 60,000 square feet in tony Malabar Hill.

“The ground-plus-one storey bungalow is built in the Art Deco style and could be at least 90-year-old. It has heritage features,” said a local resident. It has an open terrace and a large compound.

Damani paid stamp duty of Rs 30 crore for the property, which was purchased last month. It is not known if the new owner plans to redevelop the property and build a tower like many plot buyers have done in the past in this area.

A prominent newspaper said the property belonged to the Premchand Roychand family of Mumbai. “It is one of the old established mercantile families of the city, whose ancestors built the Venetian Gothic Rajabai Clock Tower at Fort in the mid-19thcentury,” said a person who knows the family.

The bungalow is situated at the corner of Narayan Dabholkar Road, one of the most exclusive and expensive residential enclaves in South Mumbai, where apartments command a price of Rs 70,000 to Rs 80,000 and more per square foot depending on the building.