# Record ₹92 crore spent on Union ministers’ Delhi home upkeep

2026-08-23T15:09:50+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk

Corroboration: 2 independent outlets

The government spent a record ₹92.35 crore in 2025-26 on renovation, furnishing and repair of Union ministers' official residences in Delhi, according to RTI data obtained by PTI. This is more than triple the ₹27.47 crore spent in 2014-15. Total expenditure on these bungalows through the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) since 2014-15 stands at ₹547.68 crore, with spending rising sharply in recent years. Mathrubhumi reports that government officials attribute the rising costs to inflation and the ageing of the 80-to-100-year-old structures, which suffer from seepage, termite infestation and failing electrical systems. NDTV's shorter report notes that the most frequent repair demands include electrical items, plumbing work and floor tile replacement. The spending per minister works out to roughly ₹1.2 crore annually, though actual costs vary widely between residences.

## Indian Opinion Analysis

The Mathrubhumi report leads with the record ₹92.35 crore figure, framing it as a steep rise from ₹27.47 crore in 2014-15, and includes government and CPWD officials' explanations, inflation and ageing structures, alongside historian context about the bungalows' colonial origins. NDTV's shorter version focuses solely on the raw numbers, omitting any official justification or historical backdrop, which leaves the story sounding more like a cost indictment without counterpoint. The careful reader should note that neither source opposes the spending itself, the divergence is that one provides full official context while the other relies on a stark deficit that implies waste. The key metric to watch is whether RTI data for 2026-27 shows a continued climb or a plateau near this record high.

## Coverage

Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral
- english.mathrubhumi.com (neutral report) <https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/india/union-ministers-delhi-homes-record-repair-bill-2025-2026-qjcqjk90>
  Leads with steep cost rise figure, includes official explanations and historian context
- ndtv.com (neutral report) <https://www.ndtv.com/delhi-news/rs-92-crore-spent-on-union-ministers-delhi-homes-repair-in-2025-26-rti-11947108#publisher=newsstand>
  Reports only the record number without any official justification or background

This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-24T04:42:12+00:00.

Tags: Central Public Works Department, Lutyens Delhi, RTI, Union Council of Ministers
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Cite: https://indianopinion.org/rti-reveals-rs-92-35-crore-spent-on-ministers-delhi-homes-in-2025-26/#story-in-brief

How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/
