Ruias buy prime Delhi property for Rs 91.7 cr

The Ruias of Essar have purchased 4, Tees January Marg, a sprawling 2.26 acre freehold property in the capital's much sought after Lutyens' Bungalow Zone, for Rs 91.7 crore.

The property is rated among the top ten properties in the LBZ. The deal is expected to cross the three-figure mark after taking into account additional expenses related to mutation and registration.

The property has been purchased through a privately held company called Prajesh Marketing, whose registered office has been given as Essar House at Mumbai's Mahalaxmi.

The seller is a Delhi-based family of four brothers including B Gupta. The property is a pre-Independence purchase for a few lakh rupees, sources close to the development said.

The sources added this property will be used as a residence by the Ruias who already own another residential property in Delhi in the upmarket Jor Bagh locality.

Not just residential, the Ruias have also affected a makeover of their office space in the capital. Essar has set up a plush office on one entire floor of nearly 7,000 square feet in Prakash Deep building at the Barakhamba Road. It has also set up a project office at Noida to cater to its growing staff and upcoming business process outsourcing facility.

There are 1,000 bungalows in Lutyens Zone and 95 per cent of these are occupied by government officials. The Ruias will join the likes of Sunil Mittal of Bharti, KP Singh of DLF, Naveen Jindal of Jindal Steel and Power.

Some recent purchases of posh LBZ properties include the July purchase by Bhushan Steel of a one acre property at Amrita Shergil Marg for a whopping Rs 137 crore.

Commenting on these prices, Anshuman Magazine, managing director-South Asia, CB Richard Ellis, said, "As there is no supply in Lutyens Delhi, there is no way of determining prices. The last deal becomes the benchmark for the next. A few years ago, the rates being commanded by Lutyens' Delhi were considered to be absurd. But that is no longer the case."