Mumbai bungalow with independence movement past sold for ₹276 crore

Constructed in 1904 by a Parsi family, Laxmi Niwas was sold to he Kapadia family in 1917 for ₹1.20 lakh

Mumbai: The Mumbai-based Kapadia family has sold Laxmi Niwas, a bungalow on the upscale Nepean Sea Road with a glorious past connected to India’s independence movement, for ₹276 crore to Vageshvari Properties Private Limited, according to proptech website Zapkey.

Mumbai, India - March 19, 2025: A view of the Laxmi Niwas Building at Nepean sea road in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

According to business intelligence platform Tofler, the Mumbai-based firm has three directors—Elina Nikhil Meswani, Rupin Vasant Patel and Ganesh Sakharam Kadam—who are all linked to the Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). Meswani is RIL executive director Nikhil Meswani’s spouse, while Patel and Kadam are directors at RIL subsidiary Reliance Fresh, among other companies. An email sent to Elina Meswani did not receive a response till the time of going to press.

During India’s independence movement, Laxmi Niwas hosted freedom fighters and activists such as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Ram Manohar Lohia, Aruna Asaf Ali, Achyut Patwardhan, and Jayaprakash Narayan. It was considered a safe house for freedom fighters when the Quit India Movement was at its peak in the 1940s. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s Azad Hind Radio was also broadcast from the bungalow.

Constructed in 1904 by a Parsi family, Laxmi Niwas was sold to he Kapadia family in 1917 for ₹1.20 lakh. The bungalow sits on a 19,989 sq ft plot and was on the block for nearly a decade. It has now been sold at a rate of ₹1.38 lakh per square foot.

After multiple attempts to sell the ground-plus-two-storey house, the deal was formalised on February 24 and registered on February 28. To register the sale, 15 members of the Kapadia family were involved: Upendra Kapadia, Dilip Kapadia, Atul Kapadia, Jaydeep Kapadia, Dasha Dalal, Kamakshi Tiwari, Himani Kapadia, Heena Kapadia, Nikhil Kapadia, Leena Panlecha, Suvarna Kapadia, Nayan Kapadia, Sandhya Bhimani, Chola Dayal, and Bhavana Virjee.