How India's tallest building ended as an unfinished site

As bets on expensive property go bad, worries rise about shadow banking's impact on economy

Benjamin Parkin
A frenzy of construction has gripped the Indian city of Mumbai over the past decade, but it now faces a glut of expensive housing. Unsold inventory in the city rose 14 per cent in the first half of this year from the same time a year earlier, accordi
A frenzy of construction has gripped the Indian city of Mumbai over the past decade, but it now faces a glut of expensive housing. Unsold inventory in the city rose 14 per cent in the first half of this year from the same time a year earlier, according to Knight Frank. PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Updated
Jul 16, 2019, 06:19 AM
Published
Jul 16, 2019, 05:00 AM
New: Gift this subscriber-only story to your friends and family

MUMBAI • It was meant to be the tallest building in India, with luxury flats, a swimming pool and cinema where billionaires and Bollywood stars could enjoy a life of perfect splendour looking down over the Mumbai skyline.

But the Palais Royale complex now sits unfinished alongside other partially built structures tangled in the megacity's traffic-choked downtown streets, an apt symbol of a crisis that threatens a key part of India's financial system.

Already a subscriber? 

Read the full story and more at $9.90/month

Get exclusive reports and insights with more than 500 subscriber-only articles every month

ST One Digital

 $9.90/month

No contract

ST app access on 1 mobile device

Subscribe now

Unlock these benefits

  • All subscriber-only content on ST app and straitstimes.com

  • Easy access any time via ST app on 1 mobile device

  • E-paper with 2-week archive so you won't miss out on content that matters to you

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 16, 2019, with the headline How India's tallest building ended as an unfinished site. Subscribe

Available for
iPhones and iPads
Available in
Google Play

MCI (P) 066/10/2023. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2024 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.

Back to the top