Wadia, Birla fight over 30 acre prime Worli real estate
Wadia Group chairman Nusli Wadia issued a public notice last week claiming that the Aditya Birla Group managed Century Textiles does not own all of the 30-acre plot at Worli and warned prospective buyers of the upcoming real estate project being constructed on the disputed property.
At the heart of the corporate fight is a prime real estate valued at Rs 150 crore per acre and the total disputed 10-acre land parcel valued at around Rs 1,5001,800 crore with a development potential of up to Rs 15,000 crore.
Nowrosjee Wadia, the great-grandfather of Nusli Wadia had given 10 acres of his Worli land to the Birla-owned Century Textiles. The mill land was given on a 999-year lease for a monthly rent of Rs 375.
Nusli Wadia, who inherited the property in 1996, has demanded the 10 acre of prime estate back. He is the sole executor of his father’s will and the administrator of the property, Nusli Wadia has stated in his suit before the small causes court that the Birlas had breached the lease deed conditions and must be evicted.
Nusli Wadia had filed an application with the small causes court in October 2021 asking for expediting his 2009 suit against the Century Mills contending that he is 77 years of age and as per the High Court circular the suit needs to be expedited.
“In order to promote this project as well as brand Birla Estate, various advertisements/articles have been published and in such advertisement/articles Century’s spokesperson has represented that Century will be developing overall 30 acres of land parcel in Worli,” reads the public notice in newspaper issued by Wadia group.
“The representation/statement by Century is factually incorrect, unscrupulous, fraudulent, and deceitful, as the total land parcel owned by Century
by City Survey, no 794 is only 20 acres and not 30 acres as misrepresented by Century. The Worli land parcel referred to in the said article consists of 20 acres of the freehold land owned by Century at City Survey no 794 and 10 acres of leasehold land owned by Mr Nusli Neville Wadia (as more particularly mentioned in Schedule 1 hereunder) at City Survey no 1/794 (Demised Premises) which is not available to Century for development,” further reads the public notice.
A Birla Estates spokesperson said, “This is with reference to the wrong and malicious advertisement published in a leading Newspaper on 06/05/2022 with misinterpreted facts about Birla Niyaara. We have always maintained that Birla Niyaara is part of an integrated 14-acre development. The same has been consistently maintained in all our communication across mediums, including advertisements/news articles/brochures, etc. Century Textiles and Industries Limited which independently and absolutely owns 30 Plus acres of land at Worli across several locations is planning to develop the same over a period of time after taking requisite approvals.”