SEBI rents Prabhadevi apartment for chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey

The capital market regulator is paying a starting rent of Rs 7 lakh per month

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has rented a 3,000 square feet, five-bedroom apartment in the upscale Rustomjee Crown development in Prabhadevi, Mumbai, for the use of its chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey and his family, according to property registration documents accessed by Zapkey. SEBI will be paying a starting monthly rent of Rs 7 lakh, with a five percent annual escalation over the three-year tenure.

The agreement was registered on September 3, and the capital market regulator also paid a security deposit of Rs 42 lakh. The three-year lease tenure also has a lock-in period till September 4, 2026, the lease documents say.

SEBI rented the apartment from three co-owners based in Mumbai and Raipur. The apartment also comes with four covered car parking spaces, according to the lease documents.

In response to a query sent by Moneycontrol, SEBI said in a statement that the nature, size, and lease amount of the accommodation for its chairman is in line with its policy.

"SEBI has a board-approved policy for providing leased accommodation to its Chairman, Whole Time Members, Executive Directors and all other officers of SEBI. The lease amount varies according to the rank/designation of the officers of the board," the capital market regulator said.

"The current leased accommodation for Chairman is in accordance with the said Board approved policy. Further, it may be informed that the size of the premise and the lease amount in this particular instance is within the approved limit. Additionally, the lease amount was determined in line with a valuation report of a leading property valuer," SEBI said.

Rustomjee Crown, built by the Rustomjee Group, is one of the most prominent developments in the Worli-Prabhadevi-Dadar area, with two towers fully complete. The third tower is expected to be ready in the coming months, according to market sources. On prominent property websites, rents for five-bedroom apartments have been listed at around Rs 6-7 lakh per month, depending on the size and level of furnishings.

Pandey, a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer belonging to the Odisha cadre, functioned in crucial bureaucratic positions in the Union government, including stints as both finance and revenue secretary, as well as secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM).

In the latter role, he oversaw the sale of Air India to the Tata Group, and the initial public offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), India's largest life insurer. Pandey took over as chairman of SEBI on March 1 for a three-year term, succeeding Madhabi Puri Buch.