Maharashtra govt may buy Air India building for Rs 1,600 crore

6 Apr 2023 , 07:29 AM

According to a cabinet minister quoted by TOI on Wednesday, the Maharashtra government is going to pay roughly Rs 1,600 crore (approximately) for the historic building owned by Air India in Mumbai’s Nariman Point neighbourhood.

In 2021, the state government started negotiations with Air India officials about buying the structure. Sitaram Kunte, who was Maharashtra’s chief secretary at the time, had previously spoken with Air India’s management about the building’s value.

According to a PTI report quoting official sources, Air India executives had informed Kunte that their internal valuation of the building was greater than Rs 2,000 crore, and Kunte had urged them to share that information with the state government.

The 23-story building was put up for sale in 2018 by the nation’s indebted national airline Air India, but it did not receive a favourable reaction.

The Maharashtra government was then asked to take part in the process by Air India.

Although we didn’t take part in the tendering process, the government wrote to Air India and provided a price quote for the acquisition of Rs1,450 crore. As the government owed Air India roughly Rs300 crore, the actual cost would have been between Rs 1,100 and Rs 1,200 crore, an official had told PTI in 2021.

However, the then-CM of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, expressed interest in purchasing the property while taking into account its proximity to the secretariat and the state parliamentary complex.

Under the Fadnavis administration, the first purchase bid was made for the structure. Fadnavis reportedly stated unequivocally that the government would only seize the building if it was turned over unoccupied.

The state government can run many ministerial offices out of the abandoned Air India facility.

‘If we own the building, we will be able to stop paying the state government rent. A minister was quoted by TOI as saying, ‘Many state offices are housed in private spaces across south Mumbai and is costing a big money every month.

The offices that are currently located in private structures can be relocated and housed in one location. The minister stated that there are proposals to link Mantralaya and the Air India building, but they are still in the discussion stage.

It was also reported that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was competing for the Air India building in Mumbai.

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