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Journalism of Courage
Loss-making Unit Trust of India-I is planning to sell off its headquarters in New Marine Lines, Mumbai. The company is shifting base to Bandra-Kurla Complex, an emerging financial district.
The valuation of the establishments is complete and the organisation has sought bids from interested parties. The company will not be paying any brokerage for the transaction, a UTI notice said.
Though the UTI chairperson avoided quoting the amount he expected from the sale, real estate agents pegged the property as worth over Rs 30 crore. Damodaran pointed out that it makes no sense for them to continue functioning from South Mumbai when a majority from the finance sector have shifted to Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). ‘‘The NSE is located opposite our (new) building, Sebi will be shifting there by next month. BKC has lot of banks. We will be saving a lot of money of our investors as instead of using merely two floors, we will be using all the seven floors of the centrally airconditioned building,’’ said Damodaran. The building is currently under renovation.
But, a leading realty consultant denounced UTI’s move as ‘‘wasting public money.’’ Speaking to The Indian Express, he said, ‘‘For one, you are well established here, why is there then a need to shift your office. Two, have they calculated the high outgoings of Rs 20 per square foot as compared to Rs 6-7 per square foot they pay in property and maintainance here.’’ ICICI for example, which owns three lakh square feet in BKC would be paying approximately Rs 60 lakh per month in outgoings alone.
The consultant pointed out that IDBI who were planning to sell its property at Cuffe Parade, changed its mind deterred by the thought of paying huge outgoings.
