Nearly 44% work on new Parliament over: Minister

According to senior MoHUA officials, the work is going on as per schedule, and the winter session of the Parliament will be held in the new building.

Nearly 44% “physical progress” has been achieved on the construction of new Parliament House, which is slated to open in October 2022, with the Centre spending ₹480 crore so far on the project, minister of state for housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) Kaushal Kishore informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Around ₹480 cr has been spent on the project so far. Sanjeev Verma/HT

According to senior MoHUA officials, the work is going on as per schedule, and the winter session of the Parliament will be held in the new building.

In a written reply to a question regarding the status of work being carried out under the Centre Vista redevelopment project, the minister said that 80% construction work on the Central Vista Avenue has been completed, and the Centre has spent ₹441 crore on the project so far. The vice-president enclave and the common central secretariat buildings, work on which started last year, have “achieved 3% physical progress”, the minister said.

“All the projects are monitored by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Central Public Works Department on weekly basis to avoid delays and any inconvenience to general public,” Kishore informed the upper house of the Parliament.

Senior ministry and Central Public Works Department officials said the work at the new Parliament building site is moving at a fast pace and will be completed before the winter session that usually commences in November or December.

“The structure of the building is in the final stages and will be ready by mid-April. The mechanical, electrical and plumbing work has already started on some floors. Finishing work amounts to nearly 50-60% of the project and it is progressing both on and off site,” said a senior ministry official.

The official said that the 44% work progress doesn’t include the work that is going on off-site, and for which payment has not been made.

“The furniture, carpet, etc, are being readied at different locations. Once the building is ready, we will start the finishing work that will be done simultaneously and won’t take much time,” said an official.

The construction of the new Parliament building, which is the first project to be taken up under the ₹13,500 crore Central Vista Redevelopment project, started in January 2021.

The minister informed that the Centre is likely to spend ₹1,423 crore in the current financial year and ₹2,285 crore in financial year 2022-23 on the project.