Jawaharlal Nehru’s Delhi Bungalow Sells for ₹1,100 Crore: A Landmark in Real Estate and History
A historic Delhi bungalow in the heart of Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone (LBZ)—once occupied by Jawaharlal Nehru—has reportedly been sold for about ₹1,100 crore, in what could become India’s most expensive residential real estate transaction to date. The property, located at 17 York Road (now Motilal Nehru Marg) was Jawaharlal Nehru’s official residence in 1946 when he headed the interim government, before he moved to Teen Murti House, New Delhi, in 1948.
The bungalow is currently owned by Raj Kumari Kackar and Bina Rani, members of a Rajasthan royal family, and the buyer remains unnamed, but has been described as a prominent businessman with interests in the beverage industry. The transaction is said to be in its final stages, as first reported by The Economic Times. A public notice issued by the law firm overseeing the sale confirms due diligence is almost complete, a standard step before registration.
The bungalow stands on a plot measuring roughly 3.7 acres, with a built-up area of nearly 24,000 square feet. Earlier listed for about ₹1,400 crore, it is understood to have closed closer to ₹1,100 crore after negotiations. Even so, the figure dwarfs other recent record-setting deals, such as Leena Gandhi Tewari’s ₹639-crore purchase of twin Worli duplexes in Mumbai earlier this year, and a ₹500-crore Cuffe Parade bungalow deal in 2024.
What distinguishes this Delhi sale from Mumbai’s glass-and-steel towers or Gurgaon’s gated luxury projects is its historic heft. The Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone (LBZ) is one of the most tightly regulated urban precincts in India, with fewer than 600 privately owned properties. Controls on redevelopment and scarcity of supply make each transaction a landmark moment. When a home also carries the legacy of being linked to independent India’s first prime minister, it becomes not only a piece of land but a piece of history.
This shift points to a deeper trend in India’s high-value real estate market. For years, India’s luxury real estate market has long been driven by ‘newness’—skyline-piercing towers in Mumbai, golf-course villas in Gurgaon, and branded residences promising every imaginable amenity. But lately, buyers are not just paying for square footage, but for cultural weight, a connection to memory, and the kind of symbolic permanence that no new build can replicate. And as touched upon earlier, scarcity is key, with heritage zones like Delhi’s LBZ or Mumbai’s Nepean Sea Road (which offer few resale opportunities) becoming more than just status addresses.
In March earlier this year, Mumbai’s Laxmi Nivas bungalow—a freedom-era hideout on Nepean Sea Road with links to Quit India activists—changed hands for ₹276 crore, making it one of the highest-value residential sales in the city. Even celebrity heritage homes command premium recognition. In Mumbai, Bollywood megastars’ residences—like Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt’s refurbished “Krishna Raj” bungalow (₹250 crore) and Shah Rukh Khan’s iconic “Mannat” (₹200 crore)—blend fame, memory, and legacy in price and prestige.
In many ways, nostalgia has become one of the strongest currencies in India’s property market, and the calculus of luxury is tilting: heritage now trumps novelty. The economics of land intersect with the politics of memory to make memory profitable, and the result is a marketplace where nostalgia, it seems, is the most valuable luxury of all.
