Hotmail founder calls India ‘zero trust country’ over 20-year flat delay: ‘Booked in 2012, possession in 2032’

Sabeer Bhatia has revealed that he booked an ultra-luxury apartment in India in the year 2012 and, more than a decade later, is still waiting for possession. The Indian-American businessman, who co-founded the first free web-based email service Hotmail, might have to wait years more — according to his X post, the builders have told him that possession will only be possible in 2032.Indian-American entrepreneur Sabeer Bhatia faces a long wait for a luxury apartment in India. (Instagram/@sabeerbhatia.official)Booking a flat means reserving and agreeing to buy an apartment, usually paying an initial amount and signing an agreement with the builder, while possession is when the builder hands over the completed flat for occupancy. The gap between the two exs because the property may still be under construction or awaiting final approvals before it is ready.(Also read: Builder’s heirs liable for delayed possession of flats, NCDRC orders handover with compensation)Sabeer Bhatia’s long waitIn an X post shared yesterday, Sabeer Bhatia, 57, revealed his long wait for a flat in India.“I booked an ultra luxury apartment in India in 2012. The project has gone through much drama. I’m told I’ll now get possession in 2032,” he wrote. “Is the 20 year wait worth it?” asked Bhatia.Responding to people in the comments section, the Hotmail millionaire said he would be an “old man” the time he got the apartment.“I’ll be an old man the time I get it. I booked it as a young man hoping to establish a showcase base in India,” the Indian-American millionaire said.‘A zero trust country’As some commenters told him he might not even receive possession in 2032, Bhatia called it a reflection on the state of the country. “That is not good news. Unfortunately, India has become a zero trust transactional country,” he said.When one X user pointed out that the money for the flat’s downpayment, had it been invested into a fixed deposit, would have served him better, Bhatia said: “This experience tells me that India is not progressing in real terms and the leader has no clue that it isn’t growing.”Sabeer Bhatia was born in Chandigarh. As an undergraduate student, he enrolled at BITS Pilani before transferring to the California Institute of Technology. He later studied at Stanford University, where he obtained his master’s degree in electrical engineering. He sold Hotmail to Microsoft in 1988 for an estimated $400 million.(Also read: Hotmail’s Sabeer Bhatia in intense online spat over X post on India-Pakan hostilities: ‘Price a country pays for…’)