Shah Rukh Khan, the Badshaah of Bollywood, will now have to pay several lakhs to claim his gigantic bungalow which is located near the seashore at Bandra's bandstand due to the revised rates of leased plots.
Shah Rukh's home sweet home "Mannat" meaning "Vow to the Gods" is a heritage building and one of a famous tourist spots in Mumbai. SRK brought the heritage bungalow from the Bai Khorshed Bhanu Sanjana Trust in 2001 on lease and renamed it to "Mannat" in 2005.
For the 2,446-sq-metre sea facing property in one of the prime locations in Mumbai, SRK paid a minimal rent of ₹2,325 a year.
But now the actor will have to pay around ₹19 lakh a year if he wants to renew his lease for 30 years, Economic Times reported.
Four months ago, the Maharashtra government revised the land leased rates in Mumbai and its suburbs to increase revenue generation. Over 149 tenants of such plots have received notices asking them to start paying the increased lease rent or a onetime occupancy fee (one-fifth of the plot's Ready Reckoner value), Economic Times reported.
Ready reckoner rates are least amount of the property which is set by the government, below which sales are not permitted.
If Shah Rukh has to claim outright ownership then he will have to pay a whopping amount of ₹8.3 crore. The previous owner of the plot had leased the property for 30 years in 1951, and the agreement expired in 1980.
But Shah Rukh is not the only who will have to pay the revised rates. Other well-known personalities required to pay are industrialists Azim Premji and Ratan Tata who paid minimal rents ranging from ₹1000 to ₹2,000 a year.
"We have given them the option of either renewing the lease for 30 years as per the new lease rents or paying for occupancy rights. They will now have to decide what they want to do," Sanjay Deshmukh, suburban Mumbai collector said, according to ET.
