India's Richest Man Builds 60-storey Home

In the most conspicuous sign yet of India's unprecedented prosperity, the country's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, is building a new home in the financial hub of Mumbai: a 60-storey palace with helipad, health club and six floors of car parking.

The building, named Antilla after a mythical island, will have a total floor area greater than Versailles and be home for Mr Ambani, his mother, wife, three children and 600 full-time staff.

Draped in hanging gardens, the building will have a floor for a home theater, a glass-fronted apartment for guests, and a two-storey health club. As the ceilings are three times as high as a normal building's, the 173m (570ft) tower will only have 27 floors.

With property prices rocketing, the building is already worth more than £500m. It is expected to be ready for the Ambanis to move in next year. The family currently live in a 14-storey building, Sea Wind.

Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Group is India's largest private company, with interests in oil, retail and biotechnology. The 50-year-old became the country's first rupee trillionaire this week, taking his net worth to £14bn.

The Indian economy is soaring: yesterday it posted annual growth of 9.4%. Friends of the Ambanis told the Guardian that the billionaire's new home was "comparable to those owned by friends such as Lakshmi Mittal". The UK-based steel tycoon bought the most expensive house in London last year, paying £60m for a place in Kensington Palace Gardens.

Urban planners say Mr Mukesh's home is part of a global rush for tall buildings that has seen skyscrapers spring up in Dubai, Shanghai and Seoul.

In India, planning rules and a historic antipathy to unrestrained materialism has meant that this race to touch the sky has largely bypassed the cities, which are more notable for their shantytowns and dilapidated housing. But experts say the next wave of skyscraper proposals could come in India.

"Our wealthiest citizens used to hide their money," said Hafeez Contractor, a Mumbai-based architect. "They would not drive their Mercedes, they lived in small apartments. Even Mr Ambani's father lived in a small block of flats. They were afraid of the taxman. But that attitude has gone; Mukesh has made his money, and good for him if he wants to flaunt it."

Mr Contractor said it is only a matter of time before Mumbai was littered with high-rises: "We have to find homes for people, and in a small area that means building skyscrapers."

While some idolize the riches and glamor of India's "Jazz Age", others are uncomfortable with the "new vulgarity". Only last week India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, called on business leaders to "eschew conspicuous consumption" and "be role models of moderation".

Praful Bidwai, a newspaper columnist, said the divide between rich and poor was becoming obscene. "Mr Ambani is building an edifice to his own ego," he said.

"It will not go down well with the public and there is a growing tide of anger about such absurd spending."