Chennai authorities seal RIL's commercial property

A commercial building owned by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries in the city has been blocked and sealed by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) for the alleged violation of construction norms.

The property was acquired by RIL from Hotel Leela Ventures and was known as Leela Business Park, Chennai, early this year. The owner had obtained planning permission from the member-secretary of CMDA on May 6, 2010, for the construction of triple basement floor plus still floor/ ground floor plus 13 floors' IT building.

However, they had completed triple basement floor plus ground floor plus 13 floors plus 14th floor (part) multi-storeyed IT building deemed to be used for IT with deviations/violations. Hence, a locking and sealing and removal of an unauthorised development notice was issued on February 4, 2013, according to a CMDA press note.

However, an email sent to RIL did not elicit any response till the time of going to the press.

The CMDA officials informed that even after giving sufficient time and opportunity, the owner had not rectified the deviations or violations in the approved plan. Considering that the owner did not comply with the notice, the entire building was locked and sealed, they added.

The property was acquired by RIL for around Rs 172 crore (Rs 1.72 billion) for which a deal was signed in February 2013, to house its 4G operations, according to reports.

The Leela Business Park, Chennai, situated on the six-acre premises of hotel Leela Palace, is a commercial property built by Leela Ventures.

The hotel, with 326 rooms and suites, was inaugurated last year. Both the hotel and the business park are currently separated by a wall, said sources from the hotel.