Businessman Adar Poonawalla, whose family bid for the Lincoln House in south Mumbai for a whopping Rs 750 crore, has blamed "bureaucratic harassment" for being unable to take possession of the heritage mansion.
The billionaire Poonawalla family, which runs the Pune-based vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India, bid for the plush property in 2015 with an offer of Rs 750 crore, making it the most expensive residential property deal in the country.
Four years hence, after paying a "substantial" amount, the family is yet to get the property's possession, Adar Poonawalla, who is chief executive of the Serum Institute of India, told PTI.
He blamed "bureaucratic harassment" by the Indian officials for the troubles.
The two-acre property, once owned by the erstwhile Maharaja of Wankaner, stands on land owned by the defence establishment, and was occupied by the US government to house its consulate since 1957.
The US Consulate later moved to the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) business district here.
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The Poonawalla family had struck the deal with the US, which involved transfer of the lease rights.
"I'd have never touched the property if I feared it will get into a trouble. The lease is for 999 years and began in 1957. We have 900 more years," Poonawalla said.
The land comes under the Defence Ministry's defence estates department, which needs to give a go-ahead for the deal and transfer the lease rights.
However, Poonawalla says he has not received any specific reasons for stalling the deal.
Over the last four years, he met bureaucrats in the Defence Ministry and also the then defence ministers Arun Jaitley and Manohar Parrikar for expediting clearances.
Poonawalla now says the issue is with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) as it involves two sovereigns.
When contacted, Nick Novak, spokesperson for the US Consulate in the city, said, "The United States government is seeking to work with the Indian government on the transfer of the Lincoln House lease, in accordance with the terms of the lease."
Pointing to recent comments by the Indian Prime Minister, Poonawalla said, "They (Defence Estates) have not got the memo from PM Modi which is not to stop honest transactions and honest deals."