This is no fairy tale. It’s the reality of two real-estate developers who say their building is the tallest in India.
MUMBAI: Builder, builder on the block, who is the tallest of them all?
This is no fairy tale. It’s the reality of two real-estate developers who say their building is the tallest in India.
Three years ago, when the Shapoorji Pallonji- and Dilip Thacker-owned SD Corporation began building the 60-storey Imperial Tower at Tardeo, the building was touted as India’s tallest at 819ft (252m).
But now, the Lodha Group is challenging the Imperial’s claim to fame.
Next month, the group will begin constructing the 57-storey Bellissimo at Apollo Mills, which it bought from the National Textile Corporation for Rs180 crore. The group claims that the 648ft (202m) building will be India’s tallest.
What’s confusing the magic mirror, according to the Lodha Group, is that SD Corporation has included the height of the antenna and 10 levels of car parking while calculating the Imperial’s height. If one calculates the height of the liveable floors alone, then the Imperial has a height of about 550ft, say Lodha officials.
“The height of Bellissimo’s liveable floors is about 600 ft. This is also because of the higher floor to ceiling height of 11.9ft,” the officials say. Also, only three of the Bellissimo’s 57 floors are for parking.
Upset with the Lodha Group’s claims, Amit Thacker of SD Corporation, said: “It is inappropriate and seems nothing more than a marketing gimmick. I do not know why Lodha is making such claims as Mangal Prabhat Lodha, the local legislator, is very much aware of our project. I would not, however, want to get into a mudslinging match.”
Thacker pointed out that the civil aviation ministry only gave clearance to the Imperial. He added, “The height of floor to ceiling blends between 10 and 12ft.
Even if the height is measured from the 12th floor, where the liveable floors begin, our building will be the tallest at 710ft.” He is planning to voice his grievance in a letter to Lodha Developers. When contacted, Abhiseck Lodha, director of Lodha Developers, did not seem keen to pursue the matter. “I am not in the race to build the tallest building,” he said. “I have no objection if Shapoorji claims to be constructing the tallest building in the country.”
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