New Delhi: Lutyens Delhi’s sprawling 3 Motilal Nehru Road bungalow served as the retirement residence of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for over 10 years. A spacious Type-VIII bungalow amid three acres of land, Dr Singh moved to this address in the national capital in May 2014 after attending Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony.
Earlier, the four-bedroom bungalow was the official residence of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit who vacated it after her party’s defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections. He died in 2019 at the age of 81.
After Dixit vacated it, the CPWD completely repaired and restored the bungalow by rebuilding the entire floor and pillars. Dr Singh, a former Prime Minister, along with his family had SPG protection.
The bungalow had around 40 fully grown trees including pipul, arjuna, golar, marorfalli, jamun, neem, mango and simal, sheltering around 60 species of birds and mammals, when Singh moved in with his wife Gursharan Kaur. In this keynote address at Lutyens Delhi.
The property’s sprawling lawns also provided shelter to a large number of bats.
“Though no count has been taken, the number of bats could be more than 200,” a senior CPWD official involved in preparing a home for Singh and his family had said then.