Who Is The Owner Of India's 1st Private Hill Station Near Mumbai? Meet The Person Behind Rs 68,000 Crore Company; Not Ambani, Tata Or Adani

Ajay Harinath Singh, the Mumbai-based businessman and the Chairman of the Darwin Platform Group of companies, recently made headlines by acquiring and pledging to rejuvenate India's first private hill station --Lavasa.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) gave its verdict on Lavasa Smart City in July this year. NCLT gave the project to the Darwin Platform Group, led by Ajay Harinath Singh. The National Company Law Tribunal approved the Rs 1,814 crore resolution plan for the private hill station Lavasa, nearly five years after the initiation of the insolvency resolution process. Darwin Platform Infrastructure Ltd (DPIL) emerged as the winning bidder for Lavasa Corporation Ltd, which is primarily in the business of the development of the private hill station by the same name in Pune.

Sitting on the pretty Mulshi valley of the Sahyadri mountains in the Western Ghats, about 180 km away from Mumbai, Lavasa covers a massive area of 20,000 acres. Lavasa a project that was making the first private city. Started in 2000 by HCC, Lavasa project got embroiled in various controversies over the years due to getting land and following environmental rules. The process to fix its money problems started in 2018. People who put money into it, like those who bought homes, have been waiting for their money to come back for a long time.

Ajay Harinath Singh had set up the Darwin Platform Group in 2010. DPIL is engaged in infrastructure contracts and services and caters to various segments like infrastructure, refineries, retail and hospitality, among others.

After getting the Lavasa project, Ajay Harinath Singh, in an official statement, said: “Our group is committed to nation-building and our vision is perfectly aligned with the PM and the Home Minister’s mission to make India an economic superpower. The NCLT has entrusted us with a challenging task to develop an ambitious world-class smart city in the country. The verdict would reinforce our commitment to nation-building.” 

Lavasa, he outlined, is now on the cusp of a remarkable resurgence. “DPIL is committed to executing the plan as per the schedule proposed to the CoC. We are very eager to revitalize this ambitious project.”