SDB chairman Lakhani quits, second big exit in 2 months

Speaking with The Indian Express, SDB core committee member Laljibhai Patel said, “Vallabhbhai had been lately upset over shifting all of his business setup. This may be the reason behind his resignation. He, along with our team, was working hard to make the SDB fully functional. Today, a core committee meeting was held at the SDB to deliberate on the future steps.”

Lakhani is the owner of Kiran Gems, one of the largest polished diamond exporters in the country. Ahead of the mega SDB inauguration in December last year, he was said to have completely shifted his business from Mumbai to Surat. He had taken offices in the A-wing of SDB in November. Lakhani had built over 1,000 houses for his employees near the SDB, according to people in the know. He intended to motivate other Mumbai businessmen to relocate to Surat.

Seeing no major progress in this regard, however, Lakhani shifted his business setup back to Mumbai a couple of months ago, sources said. Despite repeated attempts, Lakhani could not be contacted by The Indian Express for his comments on the matter.

Pitched as the world’s biggest office space, the SDB had a grand opening in December with Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the massive complex. So far, however, of the total 4,200 offices, only 135 have been occupied. Another challenge presently before the SDB is a legal battle with PSP Projects Limited, which had built the diamond trade center. The case pertains to the alleged non-payment of dues worth Rs 631.32 crore. In a setback, a Surat court on March 11 had asked the SDB authorities to furnish an irrevocable bank guarantee of Rs 125 crore in four weeks in the matter