Businessman Anant Agarwal buys bungalow in South Delhi’s West End area for Rs 82.5 crore

In Delhi, several bungalow transactions have been finalised of late in Delhi’s Lutyens Zone and other luxury markets such as West End and Vasant Vihar.

On February 2, a bungalow spread over 1,205 square metres (12,970 sq. feet) in the West End area was sold for Rs 91.5 crore, according to documents shared by Zapkey.com. The property was bought by Vikram Ahuja of Ahuja Radios, the documents showed. Ahuja did not respond to queries from Moneycontrol.

A property in Panchsheel Park, spread over 1,200 sq. yards, was sold to a Kolkata-based buyer for Rs 85 crore. Another property in Vasant Vihar was picked up by a local developer for about Rs 60 crore, while a bungalow with two units in Jor Bagh, located on a 600 sq. yard plot, was sold to two buyers for about Rs 28 crore each, local brokers said.

Last year, Anil Gupta, promoter of KEI Industries, a housing wire and cable maker, bought a property spread across 2,000 square yards in Delhi’s posh Shanti Niketan area for Rs 140 crore. The sale deed was executed on October 8, 2021.

In 2021, the owner of a leading electronics contract manufacturer bought a house in New Delhi’s Lutyens bungalow zone for Rs 170 crore, in what is believed to be the priciest residential transaction in the city after the lockdown. LBZ is located in central Delhi and consists mainly of buildings to house government offices and residences.

Soon after India’s biggest online-education startup Byju’s signed a deal to acquire tutorial chain Aakash Educational Services for $1 billion in April, the latter’s founder JC Chaudhary, bought a 2,000 square yard property in south Delhi’s Vasant Vihar area for over Rs 100 crore.

He later also purchased a 5-acre farmhouse in south Bijwasan area for around Rs 96 crore.

Preference for independent properties

“High Networth families are now preferring to purchase independent bungalows or plots in South Delhi compared to builder floors, as the former provides them independent ownership, privacy, and allows them control over construction timelines and quality. They are increasingly roping in credible architects to build to their specifications, rather than going with developers,” said Amit Goyal, CEO of India Sotheby’s International Realty.

Developers of high-value independent floors in some South Delhi markets have been avoiding registration under the RERA Act, leading to violations. The developers claim that they have been adhering to Section 3(2) (a) of RERA, which provides for exemption from registration if the land proposed to be developed is less than 500 sq. metres in size or less than eight apartments are proposed to be developed on the property.