The posh Lutyens area of Delhi will house an all-too-familiar name from India’s startup world. Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma will be buying property worth a whopping Rs 82 crore in central Delhi’s Golf Links, which is reportedly one of the most expensive locations for real estate.
While the official registration is yet to be made, Sharma has already paid a substantial amount after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with previous owners, The Hindustan Times reports.
Sharma plans to construct a new house on the 6,000-sq-ft plot in Golf Links’ gated colony. It spans across Delhi Golf Course to the east and Lodhi estate in the west.
He will be shifting houses from another prime location in the city, Greater Kailash (South Delhi), where he currently resides with his family.
Once the Paytm founder moves in to his new house, he will be neighbours with VC Burman of the Dabur group, who has a bungalow double the cost of Sharma’s.
While it may not, on its own, be a big one in Delhi’s elite real estate circles, Sharma’s purchase marks the entry of an internet billionaire into Lutyens’ zone.
As bungalow acquisitions have slowed down in the recent months, real estate experts have said that Sharma may have got a reasonable deal.
Shekhar Sharma was the only Indian with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be in the Times magazine ‘100 Most Influential People of The Year’ list. With a net worth of 1.3 billion dollars, Sharma is also the youngest Indian billionaire in the Forbes list.
Social Media Reacts
Sharma’s expensive purchase has been at the receiving end of ridicule on social media. It adds to the view that demonetisation has in fact benefited the rich, while stifling the poor. Some have even questioned his income sources.
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