Hyderabad/ Nazri Bagh Palace
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Hyderabad/ Nazri Bagh Palace
Hyderabad: Is the Nazri Bagh Palace, home of Hyderabad’s last Nizam Osman Ali Khan, up for grabs ? Highly placed sources indicate that the grandson of the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mukarram Jah, was in the city last week to strike a deal to sell off the 100-year-old palace, a notified heritage monument. Jah was in talks with at least three parties, city-based R R Masala and MBS Jewellers and a construction firm from Mumbai, during his week-long visit, sources told TOI.
Jah — who now lives in Turkey — has been planning to sell the 5-acre property for some time now. Going by the market rate, the land value alone of the entire palace premises is estimated at Rs 100-150 crore, but industry observers say heritage buildings fail to fetch a good price given that the price of restoration is high and the structure cannot be demolished. For those not familiar with Hyderabad, Nazri Palace is not in the old city – it’s located in the congested Abids area.
While the present deal has not been finalised, sources say that Jah, during his visit, held negotiations with Md Hameed of R R Masala but no papers were signed. The same sources reveal that a deal had almost been struck with a Mumbai-based construction firm.
The companies bidding for the Nazri Bagh palace refused to confirm their interest in the property. An official of RR Masala said that while the owner was in the business of converting palaces into function halls, he hadn’t bought the Nazri Bagh palace as yet. The owner of MBS Jewellers, Sukesh Gupta, couldn’t be reached for comment.
Nazri Bagh palace was built in 1909
Hyderabad: The famous Nazri Bagh Palace may be up for sale. Hyderabad’s last Nizam Osman Ali Khan lived in the palace, built in 1909, until he died in 1967. The last Nizam held court in this palace and it was then converted into the office of the Nizam’s private estate.
The Nazri Bagh palace was known by the curtain that draped its entrance. This curtain, though tattered with time, had remained an important part of this palace. Historians say this curtain was lifted each time the Nizam went out and drawn when he was inside the palace. This was the western part of the much larger King Kothi palace complex that currently stands unchanged, with the eastern block (of King Kothi palace) converted to a maternity hospital and a part of it demolished about 30 years ago.
Historians and aides of the Nizam say that Mukarram Jah’s worth would still be in millions of dollars or more if one were to consider his assets alone.