Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who underwent a successful coronary by-pass surgery to overcome multiple blockages to his heart, is ‘doing fine’ and has been taken off the ventilator, a senior doctor said on Sunday.

The 76-year-old Prime Minister "is doing fine now. He is conscious. He also met his family and congratulated all doctors," Dr Ramakant Panda, a specialist of Mumbai's Asian Heart Institute, who led the team of doctors during the surgery, said.

Satisfied with Singh's ‘improving condition’, the doctors have also withdrawn ventilator, he said.

"Ventilator has been taken off and he is breathing on his own. This is an important step," Panda said.

A PMO statement said Singh had an ‘uneventful night’ following his surgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.

"Doctors attending on the Prime Minister say that he is stable, comfortable and is making rapid progress," it said.

Panda, who is a specialist in 're-do by-pass' surgery, said, "We are monitoring the important parameters like his pulse, blood pressure, temperature and urine output.

"We have also tried to find out the pressure in the lungs through a tube called Swanganz. We are also ensuring that there is no post-operative bleeding and we have found that bleeding has stopped," he said.

The Prime Minister is expected to be in the ICU for three days and spend about seven to eight days in the hospital.

The 11-member team from the AHI, Mumbai, had on Saturday performed the over 11-hour-long operation on the Prime Minister. The team included three more doctors and several support staff.

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