A property lease issue involving Bank of Maharashtra in Pune has taken a serious turn. U.S. Senator Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox has raised the matter with Indian authorities, including the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, and the U.S. Embassy in Delhi.
Another U.S. Senator, Richard Blumenthal, has written to the FBI about the case. This happened after a complaint was filed by Vinod Gannu, a U.S. citizen of Indian origin. At the same time, Indian MPs Dr Kalyan Kale and Dr Shivaji Kalge have asked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to order an investigation.
Bank of Maharashtra is an Indian public sector bank, based in Pune. It was established in 1935 and nationalised by the Government of India in 1969.
As per report by Free Press Journal, The bank had invited bids to shift its head office to a leased building on a plug-and-play basis. It said the lowest bidder was selected, and the lease agreement was signed on 10 January 2025.
Dr Shivaji Kalge said in his letter that the bank signed a 15-year lease for about 1.25 lakh square feet of office space in the Mont Claire building on Baner-Pashan Road. The total cost of this lease is estimated at about ₹1,116 crore, including interest.
He pointed out that building a new office on the bank’s own land would have cost only around ₹60 crore. This includes ₹38 crore for construction and ₹21.5 crore for interior work.
He said this cost is much lower than the lease amount. Owning a building would have been better than paying rent for many years. He added that this difference in cost should be properly investigated to protect public money.
He also raised concerns about the number of parking spaces mentioned in the lease.
Vinod Gannu, in his complaint to the CBI, said that Niraj Kumar Associates Pvt Ltd (NKAPL), the original developer, had taken funds to build around 6 lakh square feet of office space. Later, another company, Konbil Landmark, entered the project to resolve issues.
Gannu said that his name, as a 50% partner, and the names of the lender and asset reconstruction company were not mentioned in the lease documents. He also said no No-Objection Certificate (NOC) was taken from them. He questioned how the bank signed the deal when the original documents are still with him.
He also alleged that the bank took the property on lease at a very high price, causing a loss of about ₹95.66 crore. He claimed the bank paid ₹41.54 crore (including GST) for carpet area that does not exist. He further alleged that the bank paid for parking spaces that do not exist, leading to a loss of ₹8.64 crore.
In response, the bank’s Chief Manager (Corporate Communications), Gitanjali Sinha, said the property is owned by an LLP. She said a resolution was passed by most of the partners to approve the lease.
Gannu argued that he was not part of this resolution and said such decisions should be approved by all partners.
Sinha said the resolution follows legal rules and is valid for all partners. She added that the bank checked all documents carefully and signed the lease as per the tender conditions. She denied any wrongdoing by the bank.
More details will be released soon.
