Suryakant Pawar and his businesses are now in focus as Sharada Developers Pvt Ltd and Deccan Constructions and Investment Company
Sharada Centre, built by Suryakant’s firm Sharada Erectors, stands on land that was once with BDTA
PUNE: Six years ago, Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar's brother Suryakant received an award from the Institution of Engineers (India), Pune Local Centre. Suryakant got the award in his capacity as managing director of Sharada Erectors Pvt Ltd “for their project of a new school building and new IT building on Karve Road”.
The IT building, now called Sharada Centre, also houses the offices of Sharada Erectors and the Sharada Group. The price of commercial real estate in this area is estimated at Rs12,000 per sq ft.
Suryakant Pawar and his businesses are now in focus as Sharada Developers Pvt Ltd and Deccan Constructions and Investment Company, both having their offices at Sharada Centre II, Erandwane, Pune, have figured in the bids to develop Christ Church land at Byculla controlled by the Bombay Diocesan Trust Association (BDTA). DNA had reported on Wednesday that of the six bids received for development of Christ Church land, four were rejected and the other two had the same address at Sharada Centre. Deccan Constructions, which was finally awarded the bid, showed a changed address at 38, Vijayanagar Colony, when it signed the deal with the PB Amolik faction of the BDTA.
Interestingly, the BDTA also manages St Crispin's Church in Pune, which is located next to Sharada Centre, and was engaged in a legal battle over the land where the commercial centre now stands.
When DNA went in search of Deccan Constructions at its stated address of 38, Vijayanagar Colony, Pune, we found there was no establishment of the firm at
this address.
The plot housed an old building with a 'Gopal Smruti' board. The watchman at the site said the firm's office was at Sharada Centre. But 38, Vijayanagar Colony, Pune, was the address cited by the firm when it signed the deal with the BDTA to develop the Christ Church land.
When our reporter visited the Sharada Group's office at Sharada Centre in Erandwane, the general manager of the group, Colonel (retired) Vasant Kale, refused to divulge any information about the firm's owners or directors. “I am not allowed to speak to DNA on this issue,” Kale said, adding that the firm “does not have any connection whatsoever with Union minister Sharad Pawar”. A source close to Pawar said Suryakant had exited from Sharada Erectors about four years ago and is now settled in London.
At St Crispin's Church, Tichnor Charles, CEO and secretary of St Crispin's Home, also refused to speak to our reporter. “You can contact Prabhakar Amolik, who is the secretary and the official person to speak to,” he said.
Charles also suggested that DNA could speak to Rajeev Bodas, managing director of the Sharada Group.
The website of St Crispin's Home states that a 12-year legal battle ensued after the property “was put on the market for sale/development” in 1985. The matter was settled through a compromise “as we were not owners of the land”. In return, the church received free a new complex “three times the size of the old, with the church, adjacent bungalow, and staff quarters on three acres of land as our own along with exclusive rights, title and interests”.
Properties constructed and given free to St Crispin's Home Complex to allow commercial development and end the legal dispute included a residential child care facility, a primary and secondary school, a vocational training centre, and a multipurpose utility hall.
According to an informed source, the Sharada Centre land, which was part of the St Crispin's Church premises, was given on 99-year lease to the church by one Shivaji Padale. It was after the lease ended that the land was sold to Suryakant Pawar and Bodas.
The Sharada Group describes itself as “a reputed business establishment based in Pune with offices in Mumbai and contact points in Dubai and London”. The group's website says it has subsidiaries in computer software, medical transcription, dyes and chemicals, oil, processing of American paints, and power generation through windmills.
v_abhay@dnaindia.net
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