Mumbai’s iconic Air India building at Nariman Point gets a new owner: Maharashtra Government (original) (raw)

The 23-storey Nariman Point landmark will undergo a one-year internal renovation to house various public offices currently operating out of high-rent rented premises. (Express Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)

Mumbai’s iconic Air India building at Nariman Point, the 105-metre marble tower topped with Air India’s trademark centaur that has faced the Arabian Sea since 1974, is finally changing hands. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will sign the agreement with Air India Assets Holding Limited (AIAHL) on Monday, marking the formal transfer of the landmark to the Maharashtra government for Rs 1,601 crore.

The state has already transferred funds worth Rs 1,600 crore from the Finance department to the Public Works Department last month, setting the process in motion.

Designed by renowned architect John Burgee, it was constructed in 1974 on reclaimed land that the state government had leased to Air India. (Express Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)

Once the agreement is signed, the government plans to complete internal renovations within a year. Several state offices, many operating out of rented premises across the city, will then be relocated here. The 23-storey sea-facing building offers around 46,470 square metres of space close to the Mantralaya. Following the major fire at the Maharashtra Mantralaya complex in 2012, a number of state government offices were scattered across different parts of the city, some far from the secretariat, with the state paying hefty rent for these premises. The Air India building’s acquisition will help consolidate many of these offices.

The building has a long and eventful history. Designed by renowned architect John Burgee, it was constructed in 1974 on reclaimed land that the state government had leased to Air India. It was one of the targets of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, in which 20 people were killed in a car bomb explosion in the area.

In 2018, a few years after shifting its headquarters to New Delhi, Air India decided to sell the building as part of its asset monetisation plan. Its asking price was Rs 2,000 crore. Maharashtra offered Rs 1,400 crore. Other bidders included the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, which offered Rs 1,375 crore, and the Life Insurance Corporation of India, which bid Rs 1,200 crore. The process, however, stalled.

The building was one of the targets of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. (Express Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)

The building was not part of Air India’s privatisation to the Tata group. Before the sale, the building and some other assets and subsidiaries of the erstwhile government airline were moved to AIAHL, a special purpose vehicle of the central government.

Talks restarted after the Eknath Shinde government took charge. In 2022, then Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, seeking preference for Maharashtra in the sale. The state raised its offer to Rs 1,601 crore and agreed to waive nearly Rs 300 crore in dues, mainly unrealised income and interest on the leased land. The Centre approved the sale in March 2024, and the Maharashtra Cabinet had greenlit the acquisition in November last year.