Who is the real Lodha? Mumbai’s new sibling rivalry

Abhinandhan Lodha and Abhishek Lodha.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

The family feud between the Lodha brothers is the new addition to the host of high profile legal battles between family members that India has seen.

The crux of this one is simple: Who is the real Lodha? And the pursuit to answer the question uncovers the nature of the spat.

Macrotech Developer which operates under the name “Lodha Group” was a property development company is run by Abhishek Lodha, who is the elder son of Mangal Prabhat Lodha, who is the Minister of Tourism and Skill Development.

Mr. Mangal Lodha founded the company in 1980 but it was being run by Mr. Abhishek and his younger brother Mr. Abhinandhan Lodha as joint managing directors until 2015. Mr. Abhishek was overseeing projects and Mr. Abhinandhan, finance. In 2015 the brothers decided to split. Mr. Abhinandhan started a separate entity named House of Abhinandhan Lodha (HoABL) and continued dealing in development and sale of plots in Mumbai, Goa and Ayodhya, among other locations.

Almost a decade after the split, Mr. Abhishek Lodha and Macrotech Developers have filed a suit alleging that HoABL and its head Mr. Abhinandhan Lodha were using the Lodha brand name for their business Lodha Ventures among others, and are demanding an injunction of ₹5,000 crore. The usage of trademark was in contravention to the terms agreed upon in the family settlement agreement made in 2017, when the exclusive right over brand Lodha was given to Macrotech and prohibited HoABL, its use in any form.

HoABL was also not permitted to pursue any real estate project in Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Greater London area for five years which concluded in 2022. According to the petition, he was also given ₹1000 crore as a pay off to start a new business with a bunch of apartments. Mr. Abhinandhan however denied this in a statement saying that just ₹500 crore was given to him.

The petition acknowledged that Mr. Abhinandhan agreed to the terms but continued to use the name Lodha in his business, like using the word in bigger font and naming his company “Lodha Ventures.”

Mr. Abhinandhan Lodha has claimed that the court case is motivated by jealousy. “We feel the simple reason seems driven the success of our new generation plotted land business under our company “The House of Abhinandan Lodha“ which Macrotech Developers is unable to digest and for people to know the “House of Abhinandan Lodha” is a registered trade mark since 2021.” Mr. Abhinandhan Lodha told The Hindu.

“This (usage of brand name by HoABL) has resulted in a lot of confusion for existing buyers of HoABL who wrongly think that they have associated with the prestigious “Lodha Group” not knowing that HoABL has got nothing to do with Macrotech Developers and its brands “Lodha” or “Lodha Group” .” The “indiscriminate use“ continued even after family members of Mr. Abhishek Lodha tried to tell Mr. Abhinandhan that he should do his own business in separate name and not try to pass off as ‘Lodha’. They further charge the younger sibling of deliberately using this as a business strategy and continues to make all efforts to confuse customers that HoABL is part of related to Lodha.

In order to strengthen the case against HoABL, Macrotech and Mr. Abhishek have also given proof of the financial misconduct between 2008 and 2014 allegedly under the supervision of Mr. Abhinandhan Lodha, who then took care of the finance department. This subsequently generated a debt of ₹20,000 crore in 2015, the petition found.

Mr. Abhinandan Lodha however denied this claiming that the size of the company right now was due to his efforts in 2003. “As Joint Managing Director at Lodha Developers now known as Macrotech Developers, I lead the functions of Finance, Marketing and sales which are critical in creation of a brand and where I grew sales from less than ₹100 crore in 2003 to ₹8,000 crore p.a. in 2015. Secured a $410 million FDI deal with Deutsche Bank the largest deal in real estate history of India until then , lead the ₹5,700 crore land purchase at New Cuffe Parade, Wadala, also led Lodha Group’s acquisition of 17 acres in Worli from DLF for ₹2,727 crore which was then called Lodha Park and facilitated India’s first billion-dollar single-day launch with ‘The Park,’ which received over 900 bookings worth ₹4,500 crore on its first day” said Mr. Abhinandan Lodha.

Moreover he claimed to have help solve the financial stress in the company. “By 2019, Macrotech Developers Ltd was under severe funds crunch and the premium on international bonds spiralled signalling an imminent default. My elder brother Mr. Abhishek and Macrotech Developers Ltd approached me and out of the above funds, I gave loans in aggregate amounting to over ₹900 Crores while the peak outstanding at any given point in time was ₹175 Crores from my two companies Lodha Finserve and Lodha ventures to Macrotech Developers Ltd. I was constantly requested to help out and I worked tirelessly to refinance and help Macrotech Developers Ltd as recent as 2019 – 2020 as bankers had refused to lend further to Macrotech without my involvement with my Company’s corporate guarantees of ₹250 Crores, continuing personal guarantees in excess of over ₹2000 crores . I further even mortgaged my own flat and raised funds to support Macrotech Developers Ltd. This is all a matter of record. All of this was done as a responsible member of the family and in the interest of the family”

Macrotech however said that the claims of having contributed to the success of the Lodha group were “wildly exaggerated,” as Mr. Abhinandhan was involved with Macrotech Developers for just 12 years in in its 40 year history.

Mr. Abhinandhan is not in favour of the suit. “I continue to believe that family matters should not be settled in public. This is the reason I chose to maintain a dignified silence for over 10 years. I do hope that my family honours all the commitments made to me as I have delivered not only on all my commitments but also beyond, whenever called upon to help with advice, time and money. My mother has had to be a bystander in this unfortunate episode” said Mr. Abhinandhan in a statement. He maintained that he had decided to defend only because Macrotech had gone to the court.

The case is listed to be heard on January 27 at the Bombay High Court. Mumbai business community will witness yet another high stakes, high profile sibling rivalry.