India mourns as nation bids farewell to Manmohan Singh with full state honours

Singh, who passed away on Thursday night at the age of 92, was given a gun salute.

President Droupadi Murmu, prime minister Narendra Modi, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi were amongst those who paid their final tribute to the man, who was one of the longest serving PM of India.

Singh's mortal remains were taken from his residence to Congress headquarters at 9 am.

His final journey started from Congress' headquarters later and reached the crematorium at 11:30 pm. 

"Manmohan Singh Amar Rahe" was chanted as the vehicle decked with flowers carrying the mortal remains of the Congress veteran, who held the finance ministry as well as remained the governor of central bank RBI.

Meanwhile, the Indian government on Friday announced a space will be allocated for the memorial of Manmohan Singh who died on Thursday.

A late-night release issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs said: "Today morning, Government received a request to allocate space for a memorial for former Prime Minister Late Dr Manmohan Singh, from the Congress Party President."

"Immediately after the Cabinet meeting, HM Shri Amit Shah communicated to Congress President Shri Kharge and the family of Late Dr Manmohan Singh that the Government will allocate space for the memorial," the statement said.

"In the meanwhile cremation and other formalities can happen because a trust has to be formed and space has to be allocated to it," the statement said.

Manmohan Singh rose to prominence as the country's finance minister during the Congress regime headed by PV Narasimha Rao during 1991-96, for bringing sweeping reforms that transformed the economy.

As the two-term UPA Prime Minister, he stayed at the top post from 2004 to 2014 and served as a member of the Rajya Sabha till early this year.

He retired from the Rajya Sabha in April.