The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has finalised a three-year lease for a 5 BHK apartment in Prabhadevi, one of Mumbai’s prime residential localities, to house its newly appointed chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey. According to property registration documents accessed through Zapkey, the lease agreement carries a monthly rent starting at ₹7 lakh, with the total rental value pegged at ₹2.65 crore for the tenure.
Pandey assumed charge as SEBI chairman on March 1, 2025, succeeding Madhabi Puri Buch whose term ended in February. The leased residence is located in Rustomjee Crown Tower, a high-end residential project offering premium apartments with expansive views of the city. Along with the unit, SEBI has also secured four dedicated parking slots. The distance from the apartment to the SEBI headquarters is around 30 minutes by road.
The lease terms specify a rent of ₹7 lakh per month during the first year. In the second year, the rent will increase to ₹7.35 lakh, and in the third year it will further rise to ₹7.71 lakh. The agreement includes a 12-month lock-in period and requires a security deposit of ₹42 lakh. The transaction was registered on September 3, 2025, with a stamp duty of ₹69,500 and a registration fee of ₹1,000 paid.
The apartment has been leased from an individual owner, identified as Vijay Shrishrimal in the registration papers. While SEBI has not issued a formal statement on the transaction, officials confirmed that such housing arrangements are standard practice for top-ranking officials in regulatory and government bodies. A response from SEBI to queries sent on the matter is awaited.
The deal underlines the continuing demand for premium housing in central and south Mumbai, particularly in neighbourhoods such as Prabhadevi, Worli, and Lower Parel, where several luxury projects have come up over the past decade. Developers and brokers note that the presence of government and regulatory agencies, alongside financial sector companies, has kept rental values resilient despite broader market fluctuations.
Rental agreements in Mumbai are recorded under the leave and license system, which is mandatory for transactions exceeding 12 months. Maharashtra’s Inspector General of Registration (IGR) data shows that over 3 lakh agreements are registered annually across the city, spanning residential, commercial, and retail segments. In the first half of 2024 alone, 1.90 lakh such agreements were registered, a 13 per cent rise compared to 1.67 lakh during the same period in 2023.
Overall, the volume of rental registrations has shown steady growth. In 2022, 3.06 lakh agreements were recorded, rising to 3.33 lakh in 2023. From January to mid-July 2024, around 2.09 lakh agreements had already been registered, pointing to continued momentum in the leasing market.
Prabhadevi, where SEBI has leased the property, has emerged as one of Mumbai’s preferred high-value residential clusters. Proximity to business districts in Lower Parel and Nariman Point, strong connectivity through the Western line and arterial roads, and the presence of large-scale luxury housing projects have reinforced its profile. Rustomjee Crown, the project in which SEBI’s chairman will reside, is positioned among the leading developments in the area, featuring large-format apartments, extensive amenities, and high levels of security.
The deal comes at a time when Mumbai’s residential leasing market has been gaining traction, supported by strong demand from senior executives, expatriates, and institutional tenants. Analysts said high-end transactions such as this reflect the sustained appeal of premium locations even amid wider shifts in the city’s housing dynamics.
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