News: Two Rs 1,000 Crore Central Delhi Bungalow Deals Eyed-12-02-2026

A 3.2-acre estate on Bhagwan Das Road owned by Maharaja Manujendra Shah of Tehri Garhwal, valued at about Rs 1,000 crore, has drawn interest from a Delhi-based businessman in the food and beverage sector. The same buyer has also been in advanced talks to acquire Jawaharlal Nehru’s first official residence at 17, Motilal Nehru Road for almost Rs 1,111 crore.

People familiar with the matter told HT Real Estate that both properties are leasehold. A term sheet has been signed for 5, Bhagwan Dass Road, while an agreement to buy has been executed for the Motilal Nehru Road bungalow in the Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone (LBZ). A leading law firm acting for the prospective buyer has issued a public notice, a customary late step in due diligence, inviting anyone with a claim on the Bhagwan Das Road property to come forward with documents. The notice gives its size as 3.2 acres (about 12,949.94 sq m) and names Manujendra Shah as owner.

Experts noted that conversion of leasehold to freehold in the LBZ has effectively been on hold since 2022. Most properties there are on government leases, typically from the Land & Development Office under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Shveta Jain, Managing Director and Head, Residential Services, Savills India, said that if concluded these would be the highest-value residential transactions ever recorded in Delhi by ticket size. The earlier benchmark was Rs 500-600 crore.

She said several estates of 1 to 3 acres are on the market, but before Covid-19 they were hard to sell. At circle rates of about Rs 6.5 lakh per sq yard in prime Lutyens’ zones, valuations approached Rs 1,000 crore, which did not seem viable for residential use. The market has since moved: plots of 500-700 sq yards have reportedly changed hands at close to Rs 100 crore, and smaller parcels are quoted at Rs 17-18 lakh per sq yard. At the circle rate, a three-acre property is therefore valued at roughly one-third of the prevailing per-yard rate for smaller plots in the same micro-market.

Limits on redevelopment

The LBZ is a protected, low-density enclave in central New Delhi designed in the early 20th century by British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, with large bungalows on tree-lined avenues near landmarks such as India Gate. Special regulations cap height and ground coverage and tightly control redevelopment to preserve its heritage character.

Owners may demolish and rebuild only within LBZ rules on existing built-up area, height and other parameters. Jain said the full floor space index cannot be commercially exploited, change of land use is not allowed and strict height caps apply. Such estates have modest built-up areas on large plots, are not easily monetised and are held as long-term trophy assets for end use by a small group of ultra-high-net-worth individuals. Outside the LBZ, height is generally capped at four storeys, which limits use of floor area ratio (FAR), the ratio of total built floor area to plot size, even on large plots.

Delhi versus Mumbai

Mumbai regularly sees bigger deals, with Rs 400 crore transactions not unusual in a year, while Delhi records fewer. Jain said the proposed deals could bring Delhi closer to Mumbai on ticket size, though the redevelopment and height restrictions remain a difference.

In 2021, DMart founder Radhakishan Damani and his brother Gopikishan Damani bought an independent house in Malabar Hill for Rs 1,001 crore. Reports said they paid Rs 30 crore stamp duty at 3% for the 5,752 sq m property, with a built-up area of about 60,000 sq ft, at around Rs 1.6 lakh per sq ft, which brokers then called unprecedented.

Other recent Mumbai transactions, according to Zapkey: in November 2025 a subsidiary of ZYJ Builders and Developers bought Dwarka Bungalow on Linking Road, Santacruz West, for Rs 164 crore, paying Rs 9.8 crore stamp duty; the 1,266.7 sq m (about 13,629 sq ft) estate has a ground-plus-one structure, a garage and sheds. In March 2025 the Kapadia family sold Laxmi Niwas on Nepean Sea Road, a bungalow linked to the independence movement, to Vageshvari Properties Private Limited for Rs 276 crore.

In Delhi, Gentex Merchants Pvt Ltd, a Mumbai-based company linked to steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, bought a 3,540 sq yard bungalow on APJ Abdul Kalam Road (formerly Aurangzeb Road) for Rs 310 crore in June 2025. Built in 1930, it belonged to Yashwant Singh of the erstwhile Alwar royal family.