Although the extravagant 27-story Mumbai house commissioned by Mukesh Ambani was finished last year, he still has not moved in, according to news reports.
Ambani, his wife and three children, continue to share a 14-story apartment tower, Sea Wind, with his mother and estranged brother, Anil, along with his family,
a
New York Times
article said.
(They all live on separate floors.)
Observers speculate that Mukesh Ambani has not moved into the lavish new home, called Antilia, because it does not conform to
vastu shastra,
an ancient Indian set of architectural principles, the reports noted. Antilia has also been criticized in news reports for being an “ostentatious display of wealth in a country where most people live on less than $2 a day and a city where more than half the population live in slums,” the
New York Times
report said. Ambani and his family have entertained guests at Antilia but return to Sea Wind afterward, the article said.
Ambani acquired the land on which Antilia stands in 2002 for 214 million rupees ($4.4 million) from a Muslim charitable trust at an auction. According to the
New York Times,
critics said he paid much less than the land’s market value.
A
Financial Times
article
said there has been speculation that Ambani might make Antilia into a hotel or convert it to another use. His company, Reliance Industries — which recently bought a stake in the owner of the Oberoi hotel chain — denies such reports, the
FT
article said. (Sources:
New York Times,
Oct. 18, 2011;
Financial Times,
Oct. 19, 2011.)
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