Builder,close Pawar associate,Deshpande had a meteoric rise

Even THE placid lake that winds it way through his sprawling 400 acre Amanora Park Town could have done little to calm the nerves of Aniruddha Pradyumna Deshpande,managing director of the much-in-news City Corporation on Friday....

Even THE placid lake that winds it way through his sprawling 400 acre Amanora Park Town could have done little to calm the nerves of Aniruddha Pradyumna Deshpande,managing director of the much-in-news City Corporation on Friday.

Hounded by the media as reports came in of the Rs 1200 crore IPL bid by his company and the involvement of the Pawar family in City Corporation Ltd,Deshpande was a harried man alright.

I dont know why this controversy has erupted after three months. The Pawar family has nothing to do with the IPL bid that I made purely in my personal capacity. Yes,it was in the name of the City Corporation but that is because the bid document was purchased in the companys name earlier and by the time it was decided that the company will not bid for it,the time to purchase a new document was over. So I sought permission to use the companys name. Had we won the bid we had plans in place to make a new consortium for which we would have been given nine months. We would have then done so with another Mumbai based real estate company Akkruti builders and others. We have been extremely transparent at every stage, said Deshpande on Friday.

Asked about the Pawar familys share of over 16 per cent in the company,Deshpande said that they have had this stake since 2004,since the company was formed. He added his relation with the Pawar family did not go beyond their being share holders of the firm. However,sources say its no secret that Deshpande and Pawar have been extremely close for some years now. Incidentally the only school on the Amanora campus is called the Pawar Public school.

About the other share holders in the company,Deshpande said that there were 8-10 others but avoided naming them. He stressed that City Corporation was only in the real estate business and Amanora was the only project they were working on. Deshpandes ascent has been as meteoric as the skyscrapers that stand on his 400 acre township project Amanora Park Town,touted to be one of the largest townships in the country.

Deshpande began his career 23 years back and came from a fairly modest background,insiders in the real estate industry say. While he dabbled in many projects earlier,especially as part of the Sharda group,his first big break was as promoter of Lake City Corporation Private Limited,better known as LAVASA.

He later sold his stakes to Hindustan Construction Company. Deshpande has been promoting his township through events hosted there,like an evening of poetry reading by Amitabh Bachchan coinciding with his 50th birthday.

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A few months ago the company faced an alleged income tax raid. Deshpande said it was just a routine visit. A similar tale followed during the Kochi IPL row when an inquiry was conducted at offices of franchisees and bidders. Spokespersons for City Corporation Ltd said Friday that the income tax visit had nothing to do with its IPL bid.

Deshpande says his personal IPL bid was purely due to the fact that Pune was getting a new stadium and we wanted a Pune Team in the IPL. Currently City Corporation Limited,owns a franchise in the Maharashtra Premier League called the Torna Tigers. City Corporations Limited paid a total sum of Rs 5 lakh and secured complete ownership of the franchise.