An elegant sea-facing house at Colaba is getting ready to welcome Ratan Tata, as he prepares to hand over the reigns of the salt-to-steel-to-software business group to his successor.
The house, yet unnamed, has received a partial occupancy certificate from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, but it will be at least six months before it is fully fitted to receive the head of India’s biggest corporate house by market capitalisation.
Ratan Tata is set to retire in December next year, when he turns 75. And if the all-white house with floor-to-ceiling glass windows is anything to go by, like most other things, he has planned his walk into the sunset well.
The three-storied house, located opposite Colaba post office, is divided into seven levels and has an infinity pool at the top.
The 13,350 square foot property, twenty minutes drive from Bombay House, the Tata Sons headquarters, rises 13.5 metres from the ground and has a living room, a kitchen, a study and a bedroom on the ground floor. The ground floor itself is elevated a few feet from the ground.
First-storey up, every floor has two levels. While living areas occupy the first level on each floor, the bedrooms and other rooms are on level two.
The first floor, which has a large sun deck running across the entire floor has a living area, two bedrooms and a study. Though Tata is not known to throw too many parties, the sun deck can easily accommodate around fifty people, a bar and barbecues.
The second floor has three bedrooms, a living room, and a library.
The third floor, which looks like the place where Tata will spend a lot of his time, has a sophisticated media room, a bedroom and his personal gymnasium.
The second level of this floor has a swimming pool, a lounge and a sun desk.
The basement of the bungalow has a servants quarters and parking space for 10-12 cars. "The work on the lawn, a small garden and a ramp for cars is underway. Parallely, work on the interiors has also begun," a source said.
All the necessary approvals and permissions for the bungalow were given in 2008 by the Mumbai Heritage Committee, the Urban Development Department and the fire brigade.
Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority’s no-objection was also sought before the plans were given a go-ahead as the building that was demolished to make way for Tata’s retirement home was a cess building and the entire area is a heritage precinct.
