Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma is said to have entered into a deal for a 6,000-sq ft plot in Golf Links, one of India’s most expensive real estate locations. Although the transaction hasn’t been registered yet, Sharma has paid a substantial amount in advance for the property where he plans to build a home, the Times of India reported today.
The deal, which is said to value around Rs 82 crore, will mark the first entry of an Internet billionaire into the Lutyens’ zone which houses around 1,000 bungalows but has only 70 for private use. Among the proud owners of properties in the elite zone are the who’s who of India’s corporate world. According to media reports, the market value of 254.5 acres of land in private hands in the Lutyens’ Bunglaow Zone has increased eightfold in the last ten years.
In 2013, Rajan Mittal, Bharti Enterprises Vice-Chairman bought a bungalow in the zone for Rs 156 crore. In June 2014, Rajiv Rattan, India bulls co-founder, was reported to have bought a 2,920 sq yard plot for Rs 220 crore. In December 2016, Renuka Talwar, daughter of DLF Chairman KP Singh, acquired a bungalow on Prithviraj Road for Rs 435 crore in one of the biggest deals for a property in Lutyens' Delhi, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Bungalow acquisitions in the Golf Links have, however, slowed down in recent quarters. Dabur Group's V C Burman purchased a bungalow in Golf Links for Rs 160 crore, while BPTP promoters sold a 575-sq-yard asset for Rs 65 crore in 2015, according to media reports.
Sharma’s entry into the zone comes after Flipkart’s Sachin and Binny Bansal also made some high-value purchases in the most expensive real estate zones in Bengaluru. Paytm, in which Sharma hold a 16 per cent stake, currently stands as the second most valued internet enterprise after Flipkart.
The company recently raised a mammoth $1.4 billion from Japan's SoftBank and was valued at $7-billion. Sharma is also a majority shareholder in Paytm Payments Bank with a 51 per cent ownership.
Sharma is also the youngest Indian billionaire in the Forbes list with a net worth of $1.3 billion. According to Harun India rich list, Sharma's wealth had surged about 162 per cent last year, making him the richest entrepreneur under 40 years.
