Now Reading: Lutyens bungalow upkeep bill hits record Rs 92.35 crore
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Lutyens bungalow upkeep bill hits record Rs 92.35 crore
The annual cost of renovating, furnishing and repairing the official residences of Union ministers in Lutyens' Delhi touched a record Rs 92.35 crore in 2025-26, more than three times the Rs 27.47…
The annual cost of renovating, furnishing and repairing the official residences of Union ministers in Lutyens' Delhi touched a record Rs 92.35 crore in 2025-26, more than three times the Rs 27.47 crore spent in 2014-15. The Central Public Works Department spent Rs 547.68 crore on these works from 2014-15 to 2025-26, according to an RTI reply obtained by PTI.
Officials cited inflation and the age of the nearly century-old bungalows, many of which suffer from seepage, termite infestation and ageing electrical systems. The average annual spending doubled from Rs 26.78 crore between 2014 and 2019 to nearly Rs 50 crore between 2019 and 2024. The CPWD did not provide data on spending on residences of non-minister MPs or on ministerial offices.
Indian Opinion Analysis
All three sources carried the same PTI wire copy verbatim, making this a straight news report with no editorial framing. Hindustan Times and The Hindu each published it without alteration, while Livemint added a short explanatory box on the Lutyens' Bungalow Zone but no stance. The uniformity means the coverage offers no competing angles or omissions to analyse. The story's real weight lies in the trend: the bill has more than tripled in 11 years, and with the bungalows now 80-100 years old, that curve is unlikely to flatten unless the government decides to rebuild rather than repair. The CPWD's refusal to disclose comparable data on MP residences leaves a significant gap for future RTI queries to fill.
Coverage: 3 sources, 3 neutral
Sources (3): hindustantimes.com (neutral report), thehindu.com (neutral report), livemint.com (neutral report)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 3 sources.
