Govt ministries shift to GPOA-03 Building, paving way for new CCS

This shift, intended to be temporary, will make way for the demolition of Udyog Bhawan and Shastri Bhawan, where new Common Central Secretariat (CCS) buildings will be constructed.

Offices of six ministries of the Union government, namely commerce, steel, heavy industries, mines, coal and textiles, have been allocated space in the general pool accommodation office building across five floors in Netaji Nagar.

Once all the 10 new CCS buildings are ready, all key ministries will function out of these buildings.

This new building, GPOA-03 has been recently built by the NBCC (National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited) as part of the seven GPRA (General Pool Residential Accommodation) colonies redevelopment project.

This shift, intended to be temporary, will make way for the demolition of Udyog Bhawan and Shastri Bhawan, where new Common Central Secretariat (CCS) buildings will be constructed. Once all the 10 new CCS buildings are ready, all key ministries will function out of these buildings.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated Kartavya Bhawan-3 or CCS-3, the first among the 10 secretariat buildings, in August this year.

In an office memorandum issued on Thursday, the Directorate of Estates under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) said the first floor of GPOA-03 will house offices of the commerce ministry, while the second floor will have offices of ministries of commerce, steel and heavy industries. The third floor will house offices for steel and heavy industries, as well as mines and coal. The fourth and fifth floor will have offices of mines, coal and textiles respectively.

As part of the shifting, offices under the MoHUA which were earlier located in Nirman Bhawan, had moved to GPOA-2 in KG Marg.

Offices that have moved to the new CCS buildings are Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Department of Personnel and Training, Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Ministry of Finance and Health and Family Welfare.

The Central Vista redevelopment, which also includes the new Parliament building, a revamped Central Conference Centre, and new office blocks for various ministries, is delayed partially due to the pandemic. Officials in August said all 10 Kartavya Bhawans are expected to be operational by 2026 while the Prime Minster’s residential complex is expected to be ready by 2027 end.

As part of this overhaul, conversion of the historic North and South Blocks into the Yuga Yugeen Bharat National Museum, touted to be the world’s largest, had already moved into the tendering stage, starting with the North block in April.