After years of hopping across to work, Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani is getting a taste of the commute that millions of office-goers in Mumbai are subjected to every day.
Last month, Ambani and the top management of various group companies moved to Reliance Group’s new Global Headquarters in suburban Santa Cruz from the Reliance Centre office in Ballard Estate, South Mumbai. Most of the city travels North to South during office rush hour, but Mr. Ambani will probably be spared the traffic snarls as he travels in the opposite direction.
Mr. Ambani lives at Sea Wind in Cuffe Parade, and the Reliance Centre office was barely a five-minute drive from home. Now, however, he will spend an hour to reach office in Santa Cruz.
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The Reliance Group is planning to monetise the Reliance Centre office by offering it on lease while retaining a part of the prized South Mumbai property for itself.
While Mr. Ambani was unavailable for comment, his employees have mixed feelings about the shift. “All our employees are based there (Santa Cruz) and had to come for meetings at Reliance Centre in the Ballard Estate office. So it’s good for the Chairman to stay close to this office,” said a source. Incidentally, Anil Ambani’s older brother Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, last year moved to an open office in Ghansoli.
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The Group has entered into an agreement with Chinese Wanda Group to develop 135 acres of real estate in Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City in Navi Mumbai, so most employees there were asked to shift to the Santa Cruz office, where the old BSES office used to be.
The group plans to realise at least Rs 6,000 crore from the real estate monetisation programme.