Jamshyd Naoroji Godrej and his sister Smita Crishna Godrej-controlled Godrej & Boyce will hold the exclusive construction rights over a vast land bank, including a prime 3,000 acre-property in Mumbai, they got as part of the family agreement that split the Godrej empire, as per sources and regulatory filing.
Photograph: Kind courtesy, Godrej
According to the agreement reached late Tuesday, the 127-year-oldgets to keep what group will be split into two entities – one led by Adi Godrej and his brother Nadir and the other by their cousins Jamshyd and Smita.
The former will lead Godrej Industries Group, comprising listed companies, including Godrej Industries Ltd, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, Godrej Properties Ltd, Godrej Agrovet Ltd and Astec Lifesciences Ltd.
75-year-old Jamshyd Godrej will lead Godrej Enterprises, which comprises Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co. with presence in many sectors like aerospace, aviation, defence, energy, construction, IT and software while his niece Nyrika Holkar will be the executive director.
While both groups will continue to use the Godrej brand name, the two have signed a six-year non-compete pact that will restrict them from entering each other’s domain. After the expiry of the non-compete period, they can venture into other’s domain but can not use the Godrej name for that, according to sources and the regulatory filing.
Sources said the split has been done through the transfer of shares and not value.
Adi and Nadir Godrej will divest their stakes in Godrej & Boyce to the other branch.
Jamshyd Godrej and his side of the family will transfer interests in Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) and Godrej Properties to their cousins through a family arrangement.
Real estate worth thousands of crores of rupees, mostly in prime Mumbai suburbs, will remain under Godrej & Boyce (G&B), and a separate agreement will be worked out to govern the ownership rights.
Sources said G&B will own the sole construction right over all the land bank, while Godrej Properties of the other faction will have the right to market. Godrej Properties will have no construction rights.
It owns 3,400 acres of land in Mumbai, including a 3,000-acre parcel in Vikhroli, Mumbai.
The Vikhroli land, by some estimates, has a development potential of over Rs 1 lakh crore.
It can develop 1,000 acres, while about 1,750 acres are covered with mangroves and is the destination of rare plants and birds. About 300 acres of land have already been encroached upon.
The Vikhroli property was bought by the group’s co-founder Pirojsha at a public auction from the Bombay high court receiver in 1941-42.
It was previously owned by a Parsi merchant Framjee Banaji, who bought it from the East India Company in the 1830s.
Lawyer-turned-serial entrepreneur Ardeshir Godrej and his brother in 1897 succeeded at locksmithing after failed ventures into hand-fashioned medical devices.
Ardeshir did not have any children, and so the group was inherited by his younger brother Pirojsha. Pirojsha had four children – Sohrab, Dosa, Burjor and Naval.
Over the years, the helm of the group came to the children of Burjor (Adi and Nadir) and Naval (Jamshyd and Smita), as Sohrab had no children, while Dosa had one child Rishad, who had no children.
To enable the split, the two sides quit the boards of companies in rival camps.
So, Adi and Nadir Godrej resigned from the Godrej & Boyce Board, while Jamshyd Godrej left his seat on the boards of GCPL and Godrej Properties.
Nadir Godrej, 73, will serve as chairperson of Godrej Industries Group (GIG). Adi Godrej’s son Pirojsha Godrej will be named chairperson of GIG, succeeding Nadir Godrej in August 2026.
G&B-Godrej Properties partnership to continue
Godrej & Boyce and Godrej Properties on Wednesday said they would continue their association for land development at Vikhroli in Mumbai, a day after the founding family of the Godrej group announced an amicable split of the conglomerate.
In a joint statement, Godrej & Boyce, owner-developer, and Godrej Properties, the development manager, said the two companies will continue their Memorandums of Understanding executed from time to time, for development of land in Vikhroli as and when the owner is desirous of developing the land.
Godrej Construction, a business of Godrej & Boyce, designed and built four phases of Godrej Platinum, a residential development project with a total constructed area of 1 million square feet, which has been marketed by Godrej Properties. In March 2024, a new project named Godrej Vistas was successfully launched under this arrangement, it added.
“The future development of Vikhroli presents a unique opportunity to create a holistic space in the metropolis of Mumbai where urban development and biodiversity co-exists harmoniously.
“Godrej Construction and Godrej Properties bring complementary strengths, and this has translated into the launch of successful real estate projects in Vikhroli,” said Godrej & Boyce chairperson & managing director Jamshyd Godrej.
Similarly, Godrej Properties executive chairperson, Pirojsha Godrej said,”We look forward to continuing our association with Godrej & Boyce (G&B) with a view to making Vikhroli into a world-class neighbourhood that delivers its residents an outstanding quality of life while ensuring the highest standards of sustainable development.”
According to some estimates, the 3,000-acre parcel in Vikhroli owned by G&B has a development potential of over Rs 1 lakh crore.
It can develop 1,000 acres, while about 1,750 acres are covered with mangroves and is the destination of rare plants and birds.
About 300 acres of land have already been encroached upon.
The Vikhroli property was bought at a public auction from the Bombay High Court receiver in 1941-42 by Pirojsha Godrej, younger brother of group founder Ardeshir Godrej.
It was previously owned by a Parsi merchant Framjee Banaji, who bought it from the East India Company in the 1830s.
Under the family settlement announced late on Wednesday, the group has been split between two branches of the founding family, with Adi Godrej (82) and his brother Nadir (73) on one side and their cousins Jamshyd Godrej (75) and Smita Godrej Crishna (74) on the other.
Godrej Enterprises Group — comprising Godrej & Boyce and its affiliates that have a presence across multiple industries spanning aerospace and aviation to defence, furniture and IT software — will be controlled by Jamshyd Godrej as chairperson and managing director.
His sister Smita’s daughter Nyrika Holkar, 42, will be the executive director.
Their families will control this arm that also will hold the land bank, including 3,400 acres of prime land in Mumbai.Godrej Industries Group — which includes the listed companies – Godrej Industries, Godrej Consumer Products, Godrej Properties, Godrej Agrovet and Astec Lifesciences — will have Nadir Godrej as chairperson and will be controlled by Adi, Nadir and their immediate families.
