Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infra to monetise iconic Mumbai office building to reduce debt

Reliance Infrastructure on Monday announced it is planning to monetise its office building located in Santacruz East, Mumbai, and said the proceeds will be utilised to repay debt. In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the company said, "Reliance Infrastructure plans to monetise its marquee Reliance Centre Office located in Santacruz East, Mumbai."

The company plans to monetise the office by way of long-term lease and it will "utilise 100 per cent of the proceeds only for debt reduction", the filing said. "Reliance Infrastructure will continue to own the premises, and monetisation would be by way of long-term lease," it said adding that the company aims to be debt-free in 2020.

Reliance Centre is an office building with over 6.95 lakh square feet area on a plot of 15,514 square metre.

The office is located at prime location adjacent to Mumbai's Western Express Highway and is a 15-minute drive away from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Terminal, a 10-minute drive from Domestic Airport Terminal, a 20-minute drive from Bandra-Kurla-Complex business district, and walking distance from the upcoming Santacruz metro station. Current staff operating from Reliance Centre would be relocated to multiple properties owned by the Group across Mumbai, including Ballard Estate.

Ambani has vowed to cut debt of his group to "bare" minimum and has said that more than Rs 35,000 crore of loans have been paid back in the last 14 months and all future payment obligations will be met in a timely manner. Ambani, who a couple of months back avoided a possible jail term after elder brother and richest Indian Mukesh Ambani paid off an overdue liability towards a contractor, has been on an asset sale spree to raise funds to cut about Rs 1 lakh crore of debt at his infrastructure-to-finance conglomerate. In recent weeks, he sold a radio station and mutual fund business and is said to be in talks to sell general insurance unit.