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| Birla to fight Wadia on Worli land makeover |
| BS Reporters / Mumbai/Kolkata Mar 17, 2010, 00:23 IST |
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B K Birla’s company had decided to spend Rs 625 crore on the first phase of Century Mill’s redevelopment plan in Mumbai
Basant Kumar Birla, the 89-year-old patriarch of the Birla family, is ready to fight with Wadia Group chief Nusli Wadia for 10 acres of land in Mumbai’s Worli suburb.
Over a century ago, Nowrosjee Wadia, great-grandfather of Nusli Wadia, gave 10 acres of his Worli land to the Birla-owned Century Textile Mill. The mill land was given on a 999-year lease for a monthly rent of Rs 375. Now, Nusli Wadia who inherited the vast property in 1996, wants it back.
The land leased by Wadia adjoins a large chunk of freehold land owned by the Birlas. The Century Textile Mill was set up on the premises formed by the combined land. The mill operated till about 2005, when the state granted permission to close the defunct mill.
“We want to do real estate development on the land. We have 40 acres, of which Wadias are contesting 10 acres. They have moved court, so we will fight it legally,” said Basant Kumar Birla.
The Wadia Group could not be reached. Wadia, as the sole executor of his father’s will and the administrator of the property, has stated in his suit before the small causes court that the Birlas had breached the lease deed conditions and must be evicted.
The B K Birla Group, on the other hand, has filed an originating summons in the Bombay High Court, asking the court to interpret the lease deed and its conditions. It wants to know if it can redevelop the land for commercial purposes.
B K Birla's company had decided to spend Rs 625 crore on the first phase of Century Mill's land development in Mumbai. This would include development of a commercial complex and rehabilitation of around 850 workers. Currently, the company is in the process of demolishing the old buildings and was expected to start construction work on the mill land soon.
It plans to build a hotel and a commercial complex for information technology (IT) and IT-enabled service companies. It was to be developed in three phases, the first one comprising a commercial complex and rehabilitation of around 850 workers.
According to the succession plan of B K Birla, Century Textiles is expected to come into the fold of Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group.
The stock of Century Textiles & Industries was up by two per cent, to Rs 519 a share on the Bombay Stock Exchange of Tuesday. The Sensex, the benchmark index of the exchange was up by 1.3 per cent to 17,383.
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