Sebi buys IDBI Bank’s Mumbai property in Rs1,000-crore deal

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India has struck a deal with IDBI Bank to acquire its seven-storey office building at the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) for Rs1,000 crore, in one of India's biggest commercial property acquisitions.

The deal, recently approved by the board of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), is the second-biggest office-space buy in value terms.

The SEBI-IDBI deal is being billed as India's second-largest end-user office-space transaction by value after Abbott India's Rs1,480-crore purchase of 4.35 lakh sq ft space at BKC, in September 2015.

The going rate for the current deal comes to around Rs30,000 per sq ft.

The IDBI building, which has 3.41 lakh square-foot of built-up area, is located in the same 'G' block area of BKC where Sebi currently has its offices. The deal will help Sebi more than double its office space.

The regulator may also see a scale-up in its employee strength in the coming years.

The block is exclusively reserved for banking and financial services companies and also houses India's largest bourse, the National Stock Exchange. The deal will make Sebi one of the largest owners of office real-estate at BKC.

Sebi has purchased office space in most metro cities and has also built over 125 apartments and guest houses for its staff. Recently, the regulator was asked to transfer Rs1,672 crore of surplus funds lying with it to government coffers.

Sebi's income comes from stock - and commodity market-related transaction fees. It also collects fines by punishing wrongdoers in the market.