Mumbai

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) Chairman Deepak Parekh’s family has purchased a sea-view apartment spread over 7,450 sqft in K Raheja Corp’s super-premium project Raheja Artesia in Mumbai’s plush Worli locality for Rs 50 crore.

The deal was registered in the name of his wife Smita Parekh on March 30, just a day before the reduced stamp duty benefit announced by the government of Maharashtra was about to come to an end. The buyer has paid Rs 1.50 crore as stamp duty for the registration of the apartment.

As part of the deal, Parekh will get access to six car parks along with the apartment, which includes a 6,770 sqft carpet area and balcony area of 273 sqft. According to documents accessed by Zapkey.com, the apartment is on the 25th floor of the under-development project that offers views of Arabian sea and the Bandra-Worli Sea Link.

“Yes, it is true. There was an independent valuation done by two valuers to ascertain the value of the property so as to confirm that the purchase was at market value. This was shared with the HDFC Board to seek their prior approval before committing to buy the property,” HDFC spokesperson said in response to ET’s email query.

K Raheja Corp declined to comment for the story.

In November, HDFC’s Vice Chairman and CEO Keki Mistry also bought an apartment in the same building Raheja Artesia for Rs 41.23 crore. Mistry’s apartment is spread over 7,390 sqft on the 35th floor of the tower and will provide him access to eight car parks.

In March, HDFC Securities’ Managing Director Dhiraj Relli also bought an apartment in the same tower Raheja Artesia for Rs 30.31 crore. Relli’s apartment has a carpet area of 3,702 sqft and a balcony measuring 173 sqft.

Over the last few years, Worli has become a hotspot for large-ticket transactions. Several top businessmen, and high net worth Individuals in the recent past bought premium properties in the locality.

This micro market is known for the proximity to business hubs and traditional luxury pin codes of south Mumbai. The vicinity also houses many high-profile names including industrialists, sports personalities, start-up founders and C-Suite professionals.

With an objective of kick-starting the real estate sector and nearly 260 linked industries by encouraging housing sales, the state government had announced a reduction in stamp duty charges to 2% from 5% from September to December-end.

Stamp duty was charged at 3% of the agreement value between January and March 31.

Apart from helping convert pent-up demand in the mid-income and affordable segments, the stamp duty reduction has also prompted the conclusion of several large-ticket transactions in the city.

Kailash Babar, ET Bureau