Anand Mahindra and Kumar Mangalam Birla new entries to Willingdon Sports Club

Anand Mahindra and Kumar Mangalam Birla — both top industrialists — naturally qualify as Mumbai's elite but one exclusive city club has only recently opened its doors to them.

The Willingdon Sports Club in Tardeo, one of Mumbai's toniest old-time establishments, now counts the two men among its corporate members. Corporate memberships, which are valid for 10 years, are given to business executives, whose companies have a net worth of Rs 20 crore or more.

Before receiving their memberships, Mahindra and Birla visited the Club with their respective spouses and took part in a 10-minute interview. Willingdon secretary Commodore KN Bhagat reveals that this was simply an introductory process for the Club in order to ensure that their spouses fit into the framework of the Club.

Bhagat says that he hasn't noticed either Mahindra or Birla visiting the Club after becoming members but then again, many of the Club's 6,500 members are not regular visitors. "I am not sure whether they will get time to come here," he says.

General memberships at the Club have not been available for at least five years now. Each membership costs Rs 2.5 lakh. Some of the famous members at the Willingdon Sports Club include Ratan Tata, the Godrej family and the Mafatlal family.