Godrej group denies dispute over prime land in Mumbai; says family working on 'strategic plan'

The Godrej group has denied any family dispute over the utilisation of a prime land parcel in Mumbai. The group, in a media statement, said they had sought advice from external partners to help them plan the future strategy for the group company. Several reports on Thursday highlighted a major dispute between the two factions in the family -- one led by Adi Godrej, his brother Nadir Godrej and the other by his cousins Jamshyd Godrej and Smitha Godrej Crishna. Terming it "normal and private family discussions", the Godrej Group said: "We have been working on a long term strategic plan for the Group for several years. As part of this exercise, we have sought advice from external partners to help us think through options."

The issue pertains to the alleged dispute in the family over a future roadmap for the 100-year-old conglomerate and the alleged commercial exploitation of its landholding by Godrej Properties. Adi Godrej is the Chairman of Godrej group, while Nadir Godrej is the Chairman of Godrej Agrovet. Jamshyd Godrej, who's Adi and Nadir's cousin, is the Chairman of Godrej & Boyce.

The family group, the biggest landowner in Mumbai, has now appointed top firms to address the landholding issue. Godrej & Boyce owns 3,400-acre land in Mumbai's Vikhroli, of which only 1,000 acres can be developed. This piece of land alone is estimated to be worth Rs 20,000 crore. According to an estimate, the 1,000-acre land alone could be turned into a real estate project worth over Rs 1-lakh crore, and both Adi and Nadir Godrej are in favour of the development of the area. As per reports, Godrej Properties, the group's real estate arm, has been developing the land parcels through a development management agreement in this area. However, Jamshyd Godrej wanted the 1,000 acre land at Vikhroli suburb to be spared such practice.

Not being able to find a middle ground, Jamshyd Godrej has reportedly hired Nimesh Kampani of JM Financial and lawyer Zia Mody of AZB Partners, while Adi and Nadir have approached Uday Kotak and Cyril Shroff of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas to re-organise the landholdings.

Edited by Manoj Sharma

Also read: Dispute in Godrej family over monetisation of Godrej & Boyce landholding by Godrej Properties

Godrej dispute: British era land worth Rs 30 lakh can now fetch Rs 4.35 lakh crore, but it's divided the family