Work on new Parliament building begins; to be completed in 22 months

This picture has been used for representational purposes

The groundwork for the new Parliament building has begun and the agencies have started digging soil in a plot where the structure will come up, officials said on Thursday. Last month, Tata Projects Limited won the bid to construct a new Parliament building near the existing one under the Central Vista redevelopment project. It is expected to be completed in around 22 months from the start of construction work. The new building will come up on plot number 118 of the Parliament House Estate. "One of the receptions for the entrance to Parliament building is being shifted to widen the space for movement of heavy vehicles," an official said.

He said small offices of the CPWD and a power station have been shifted from the plot to pave the way for the new Parliament building, adding that digging work has been started. Another official said the work to shift two entrances to the existing Parliament building has also begun. The redevelopment project of Central Vista -- the nation's power corridor -- envisages a new triangular Parliament building, a common central secretariat and revamping of the 3-km-long Rajpath, from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate

More MPs can be accommodated in the new building as the strength of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha may increase after delimitation of constituencies. It will have spacious seating arrangements for around 1,400 MPs. The building will be a reinforced cement concrete framed structure. According to the CPWD, the existing Parliament building will continue to function during the entire period of execution of the project. Once the new building is complete, the existing building will be used for other purposes.

Last month, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had told Lok Sabha that the Central Vista redevelopment project would generate large number of direct and indirect employment which could be "an important fulcrum for economic revival". In his written reply to a question, Puri had said, "In the current economic scenario, the project shall generate large number of direct and indirect employment which could be an important fulcrum for economic revival.
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He had also said that the estimated cost for construction of the new Parliament building was Rs 971 crore. About the rationale behind the need for the project, the minister had said that the existing Parliament House Building was started in 1921 and commissioned in 1927 and hence, the building is already 93 years old, adding that its facilities and amenities are "highly inadequate" to meet the current demand of Parliament.

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