Friday, June 24, 2022

Theosophical Society leases out 14 cents of Damodar Gardens to Shiv Nadar Trust for Rs 512 crore

 

CHENNAI:
Theosophical Society has leased out 13 acres and 86 cents of Damodar Gardens in Besant Nagar for a period of 43 years to Shiv Nadar Trust for Rs 512 crore.  According to a document accessed by TNIE, the Trust will build a school on the campus.

The deal between Theosophical Society and Shiv Nadar Trust allows the latter to use the premises for educational purposes and also establish infrastructure for providing residential accommodation to teachers, staff members and students.

The Society, founded in 1875 by Madam Blavatsky and Col Henry Steel Olcott, has been leased from May 31, 2022 to May 30,2065. Under the agreement, Shiv Nadar Trust will develop the educational institution as well as establish infrastructure for residential accommodation of teachers and staff as well as students of the institution.

The renewal of negotiations shall commence six years prior to the due date for expiry of the lease  but not later than five years before the expiry of the contract. Similarly, Theosophical Society will give an extension of five years  to enable the Trust to relocate the educational institution along with all movable movable assets, fittings, fixtures and appurtenances to other locations.

As per the agreement clause, for the first year of pre-operative period from the date of signing of the lease deed, the trust will be paying a rent of Rs 1.42 crore per annum as rent and in the second pre-operative period, it would be Rs 3.42 crore and later in the third year it would be Rs 6.83 crore. After the third year, the rent will be subject to enhancement of 2.5% per annum, on the last paid rental. The escalation will start from the 4th year.

Currently, there are two schools existing in Theosophical Society. They are --- The  Olcott Memorial Higher Secondary School (OMHSS) run by Olcott Educational Society and Adyar Theosophical Academy (ATA) run by Theosophical Educational Society (TES) respectively. OMHSS is a free school for disadvantaged sections of the society. ATA was established in 2019 with the objective of wholesome development of a student in an environment that is non-competitive, free from fear of results and promoting critical thinking. It admits only fee-paying students and provides tuition scholarships for students coming from economically weaker strata of the society.  

As per the clause, the Trust is free to administer, operate and run these two schools. However, it is not authorised to set up or manage or operate any new educational institution within the limits of Adyar during the elase term. However, they can scale up operations of OMHSS and ATA as required.





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