Delhi’s new ITO ‘twin tower’ secretariat clears key hurdle

Officials said the I-T Department has agreed to the redevelopment on the condition that it receives built-up space equivalent to its functional requirement

The Delhi government has firmed up what officials are calling a “twin tower” blueprint for its new secretariat complex at ITO – a plan that will see two major buildings functioning as a unified administrative hub built on 17.5 acres of land, divided by a major road. The project, one of six earlier shortlisted by the Public Works Department (PWD), cleared its most crucial obstacle after the Income-Tax (I-T) Department agreed to allow redevelopment of its 4.5-acre campus as part of the larger plan, officials said on Tuesday.

The PWD building at the ITO. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

HT graphics.

The I-T department’s land, which houses the landmark Income Tax Office (ITO) that lends its name to the intersection, sits between PWD’s 6.5-acre MSO complex and the adjoining 6.5-acre Vikas Bhawan plot. Its position has long been the largest barrier to creating the contiguous land parcel required for a consolidated secretariat to house the entire Delhi government machinery. With the department now on board, planners can proceed with a unified design instead of working around a fragmented layout.

Officials said the I-T Department has agreed to the redevelopment on the condition that it receives built-up space equivalent to its functional requirement, estimated at roughly one million square feet. This share will be incorporated into the new blueprint, which is expected to have a total built-up area of close to three million square feet.

The remaining two million square feet will be used by the Delhi government to bring together almost all its key departments – which currently operate from scattered offices across the Capital – into one integrated administrative district.

PWD minister Parvesh Verma said the ITO site emerged as the most viable location after months of discussions. “We had several options in mind, but this has emerged as the most feasible location for the Delhi secretariat. With cooperation from the Income Tax department, we now have access to a larger unified plot and greater scope in terms of design and infrastructure to create a sustainable complex where all government departments can be housed together,” he said.

The earlier proposal for the site, drafted before the I-T Department’s approval, had envisioned two interconnected high-rise towers spanning the MSO and Vikas Bhawan complexes, linked either by a sky bridge or an underpass. Estimated at over ₹2,000 crore, this design would have brought together the offices of the chief minister, cabinet ministers, the chief secretary, senior bureaucrats, and departments such as PWD, GST, DUSIB, food safety, and weights and measures. But with the addition of the ITO campus to the project footprint, officials said the architectural design will have to be reworked entirely.

Once the cabinet approves the plan, the government will appoint a transaction advisor to flesh out the details – including the precise layout, floor distribution, height of the towers, project budget, and architectural and environmental features. One option under consideration is to place the secretariat buildings on one side of the dividing road (Indraprastha Marg) and the ITO building on the other. Officials said the new design will prioritise seamless internal connectivity and incorporate sustainability elements such as energy-efficient façades, water conservation systems, and integrated public spaces.

The push for a new secretariat has been under way for years. The existing building – built a few kilometres down the road on Vikas Marg – was originally made as accommodation for athletes during the 1982 Asian Games, spans just over 40,000 square metres and is no longer considered suitable for the operational needs of Delhi’s expanding administrative machinery. As a result, many major departments function from a mix of rented premises and ageing buildings spread across the city.

Departments such as the revenue commissionerate, labour commissionerate, transport commissionerate, excise, GST, education, and food and civil supplies operate from separate locations, requiring frequent cross-city travel for internal meetings and slowing down coordination. “The old Secretariat simply cannot meet the needs of a modern government. Space is inadequate, facilities are outdated, and fragmentation across the city leads to loss of time and efficiency,” an official said.

According to PWD officials, six sites were earlier selected after a preliminary feasibility study for the new centre for Delhi’s bureaucracy. Apart from the finalised site, others were an 80-acre government housing complex in Gulabi Bagh, a 40-acre vacant land in Khyber Pass, the 45-acre power plant site near Rajghat, the 30-acre IPGCL Gas Turbine Power Station near Indraprastha, and one site near ITO bus depot.

The ITO intersection in Delhi remains one of the city’s biggest traffic chokepoints, where multiple arterial roads converge and competing streams of officegoers, buses and autos merge into a constant snarl. Peak hours often see long queues stretching up to Vikas Marg and even the Ring Road.