₹301cr spent on New Parliament building and Central Vista Avenue till date
The minister added that the estimated expenditure on these two projects over financial year 2021-2022 was ₹1,289 crore
The Union government told Parliament on Wednesday that it has so far spent ₹301 crore on the Central Vista redevelopment project including ₹238 crore on the new Parliament building, which is estimated to cost ₹971 crore. The remaining ₹63 crore has been spent on the Central Vista Avenue, being redeveloped at an estimated cost of ₹608 crore, it added.
The government response was to a question by Rajya Sabha members G C Chandrashekhar and Rajmani Patel, who wanted to know the total estimated cost of the Central Vista redevelopment project and the expected number of years to complete it. They also wanted to know the cost of demolition of old structures and the estimated costs to be incurred on the Central Vista redevelopment project for the financial year 2021-22.
Minister of state of housing and urban affairs Kaushal Kishore said, “Under the Central Vista Redevelopment/ Development Master Plan, only 2 projects viz. construction of New Parliament Building and Redevelopment of Central Vista Avenue are being implemented, as on date.” The minister added that the estimated expenditure on these two projects over financial year 2021-2022 was ₹1,289 crore.
He added that the estimated cost of razing down existing structures “has not been worked out separately.”
Regarding the time taken for completion, the minister said the Central Vista Avenue was to be completed by November this year while the new parliament building will be completed in October next year.
While the government mentioned the cost of two specific projects, the revamp of the Rajpath and associated new constructions in the area will see the establishment of a new SPG (special protection group) building, vice president’s enclave, Central conference center, ten common secretariat buildings and an automated people mover which will serve as a transit system to ferry employees to these ten secretariat buildings during peak hours. The total cost for these projects is estimated to be nearly ₹13,500 crore, as estimated by the Central Public Works Department.
As per the documents accessed by HT in the past, the vice president’s new office and the new parliament building will be the first structures to be completed while all the others are scheduled to be completed by December 2026.
Earlier, HT had also reported that currently, the completion schedules are finalised only for the Central Vista Avenue –which comprises Rajpath, leading from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate — and the new Parliament.
Also, according to a proposal given to the environment ministry in 2020, nearly 458,820 square metre of the built-up area will be razed down. These structures include the building housing Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) which sits on almost 25 acres of land. Besides INGCA, Shastri Bhavan, Krishi Bhavan, Vigyan Bhavan, vice-president’s residence, National Museum, Jawahar Bhavan, Nirman Bhavan, Udyog Bhavan, Raksha Bhavan, and INS Hutments will also be demolished.