Here are some of the key characteristics of Mukesh Ambani’s Antilia property, which he calls his residence and is one of the wealthiest homes in the world.
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani may not more be the richest man in India ─he is now ranked the 11th richest person in the world at the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, with a networth of $82.2 billion while his peer Gautam Adani is now the second richest man in the world with his $146.8 billion fortune. However, Ambani, who controls the world’s largest oil refining complex, lives in the most expensive private residence in the world.
In addition to Antilia, his real estate portfolio also includes Stoke Park in London and a beachfront home on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah. In this guide, we’ll cover all of these properties.
Antilia:-
The term Antillia is probably derived from the Portuguese “Ante-Ilha” (“Fore-Island”, “Island of the Other”, or “Opposite Island”).
Mukesh Ambani’s primary residence is quite fitting to the stature of a man who currently holds the title of being the second richest man in India. Named Antilia, his house is worthy of a man counted among the richest in the world (he is currently the 11th richest man in the world). On the outside, the multi-million dollar, customised skyscraper overwhelms the onlookers by its sheer grandness.
Mukesh Ambani house: Key facts about Antilia
| Name | Antilia |
| Construction date | 2004-2010 |
| Storeys | 27 |
| Area | 4 lakh sq ft |
| Location | Altamount Road in Cumballa Hill, Mumbai |
| Estimated price | Approximately Rs 15,000 crores |
| Design and construction | Perkins & Will and Hirsch Bedner Associates |
| Key features | Boasts 3 helipads, parking space for 168 cars and 50 seater movie theatre |
Mukesh Ambani house address
The Mukesh Ambani residence, which is situated on Altamount Road in Cumballa Hill, is named after a fictitious island that is thought to be in the Atlantic Ocean close to Portugal and Spain. A neighbour of Mukesh Ambani is Kumar Mangalam Birla, a member of the Birla family.
The opulent, 4,00,000 sq ft, 27-story cantilevered Ambani home is located in Mumbai, one of the most expensive housing markets in the world due to the city’s notoriously limited space.
Antilia construction date
Beginning in 2004, the Ambani residence Antilia underwent intense development that lasted for seven years, until 2010. The Ambani family didn’t really move into the Ambani residence until late 2011, which fueled rumours of Vastu-related problems with the building, which we shall cover in more detail in this post.
Mukesh Ambani house price
Antilia is the name of the second-most expensive residence in the world for billionaires. Property appraisers placed Antilia’s value in 2020 at about USD 2.2 billion, placing it second only to Buckingham Palace, the residence of the British royal family, in terms of value. The media routinely reports that the maintenance work at Antilia requires spending Rs 2.5 crores each month, despite the lack of specific estimates.
Mukesh Ambani’s residence is estimated to be worth Rs 15,000 crores in Indian rupees. Property surveyors estimate that Antilia costs between Rs 80,000 and Rs 85,000 per square feet.
Mukesh Ambani house: Key features, design and amenities
- Ambani contracted Perkins & Will, a Chicago-based architectural firm, and Hirsch Bedner Associates, a Santa Monica-based interior design firm, to design and construct Antilia, two renowned US businesses.
- Nita Ambani, a family chatelaine and philanthropist, was instrumental in the conception and creation of Antilia and was in charge of enlisting the support of both businesses. Even though the general architecture was influenced by the sun and the lotus, both firms worked tirelessly to guarantee that no two rooms in the mansion looked alike.
- Even though Antilia is a 27-story building, the mansion’s high-ceiling glass tower makes it appear to be a 60-story complex. The 570-foot home is visible from a distance in all directions and is taller than most nearby structures.
- Among the opulent amenities, Antilia boasts three rooftop helipads, a six-floor parking garage that can hold 168 cars at a time, a 50-seat movie theatre, three floors of hanging gardens designed in the style of Babylon, a yoga studio, a fitness centre, a ballroom, nine elevators, a swimming pool, a spa, a health centre, a temple, a snow room, and housing for a 600-person staff that lives on
Vastu controversy
- There was a time difference between the completion of the property and Mukesh Ambani’s family moving into Antilia, leading to conjectures about the delay.
- Rumours were based on the fact that both, Nita Ambani and Mukesh Ambani, who have a reputation to be staunch believers of Vastu Shastra, had withheld the moving in, because of some Vastu defects in the property.
- Even though their grand home was ready in 2010 and the house warming ceremony was held in November of the same year, the Mukesh Ambani family – wife Nita Ambani and three children, Isha Ambani (now Isha Piramal), Akash Ambani and Anant Ambani – moved to Antilia only in 2011.
- Till late 2011, the family would go back to their 14-storey home, Sea Wind in south Mumbai’s Cuffe Parade area after hosting a party or an event at their new home.
- Many believe that it might have something to do with the Vastu Shastra of Mukesh Ambani house. In an interview with the New York Times, Vastu expert, Basannt R Rasiwasia, whose client list includes the who’s who of tinsel town, said Antilia did not conform to Vastu principles in large part, because the eastern side of the building did not have enough windows to let in light.
- “From the outside, what I see is that the eastern side is blocked while the western side is more open,” he said. “This always leads to misunderstanding between team members or sometimes may create issues. This also indicates more hard work to achieve moderate success. There is more negative energy coming from the western side,” he said while conceding that he had never been inside the building and hence, was not in a position to give a clear analysis.
- Interestingly, before the article carrying Rasiwasia’s quote appeared in the New York Times in October 2011, the Ambanis had already moved into Antilia, giving closure to what Nita Ambani termed as ‘media exaggerations’ and rumours that Vastu had anything to do with the delay in moving into Antilia.
- However, before moving in, the Ambani family conducted a 10-day Griha Pravesh puja, inferred to be a combination of many rituals meant to clear the Vastu doshas (defects) in Antilia.
- Media reported that a team of 50 renowned pandits, led by Ambani family priest, Ramesh Ojha, were part of the 10-day puja.
- However, rumours of the Ambani family shifting base to London surfaced recently when a recent media report said the Ambani family was planning to make the Stoke Park property its primary residence since “the experience of spending the pandemic in the 4,00,000-sqft Altamount Road residence, Antilia, made the family feel the need for a second home”.
Land controversy
In 2002, Mukesh Ambani paid USD 4.4 million to a Muslim charitable trust that ran an orphanage in a different part of the city for the land on which he planned to construct Antilia.
After the sale, a debate concerning Ambani’s acquisition erupted. At the time, Nawab Malik, the Maharashtra Waqf and Revenue Minister, said that the Waqf board had put its land up for sale to fund the education of “underprivileged Khoja children (from the Nizari Isma’ili Shia minority)”. Other detractors claimed that Mukesh Ambani purchased the property at an auction for a significant discount from the plot’s market value.
Finally, Mukesh Ambani was able to obtain a no-objection certificate for the land from the Waqf Board, and as a result, Antilia’s construction was authorised to begin.