Graphically Speaking

Dream mansion

What Kumar Mangalam Birla's jaw-dropping deal for a sea-facing bungalow in Mumbai is all about 

Termed as the costliest bungalow deal the city has ever seen, Kumar Mangalam Birla’s purchase of the Jatia Mansion for ₹425 crore has become the talk of the town for obvious reasons. The sea-facing property located in the posh locality of South Mumbai was till recently the abode of Jatia brothers, sons of the prominent industrialist MP Jatia. This is the third big transaction in the area after the purchase of Homi Bhabha’s bungalow for ₹372 crore last year by the Godrej family and the sale of Maheshwari House for ₹400 crore in 2011. After an entire day of auction to buy the 30,000 sq ft bungalow, Birla trumped five bidders, including Ajay Piramal’s Piramal Realty. The Birlas, with a net worth of $8.5 billion, are currently residing in Mangalyan in the south of the city, the same place where Antilia, Mukesh Ambani’s 27-storyed apartment, is located. Soon after the Jatia Mansion deal was finalised, came in news that Cyrus Poonawalla had bought Lincoln House for ₹750 crore. While this new record comes to well over a $100 million, like most sellers, the US government wanted more and was holding out for ₹850 crore.