The royal family of Travancore has entered into an agreement with Sahana Real Estate & Builders to sell the Travancore House along with a parcel of land that houses the bungalow in central Delhi and a property in Bengaluru for Rs 250 crore, according to a copy of the sale deed.
The British era bungalow and land on Kasturba Gandhi Marg is currently in the possession of the Kerala government. According to news reports in 2019, the royal family had written to the central government, seeking return of the property, claiming that the Kerala government had only possession rights on it. However, the state government had at the time claimed that it had the ownership right.
As per the October 21, 2022, sale deed signed in Bengaluru, the transaction is conditional upon the buyer, Chennai-based Sahana Real Estate, getting a no-objection certificate from the Kerala government and clearance from the central government.
The deal includes the undivided half share of the KG Marg land parcel spread over 8.195 acres, along with the bungalow, constructed in 1930 as the New Delhi residence of the Maharaja of Travancore, and a 208 sq metre plot at Doddamaranahalli Village in Bengaluru.
The royal family is represented in the sale deed by power of attorney Venugopal Varma, according to the copy shared by Zapkey, an aggregator of property registration data.
According to sources in the real estate market, after Independence, the royal family had given the Delhi bungalow and the land housing it to the central government to house soldiers of the territorial army. The central government later handed over it to the Kerala government.
The building has been categorised as a heritage structure by the New Delhi Municipal Council. The Kerala government has been planning to transform it into a cultural complex and has set up an art gallery there. The property also houses some offices of the Kerala government.
