New parliament building gets most necessary clearances, Modi govt now awaits SC nod

The new triangular building is estimated to cost Rs 922 crore, with the bill to be footed by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats.

Parliament building | Bloomberg File photo

New Delhi: The proposal for a new Parliament building is on its way to getting implemented, with the majority of statutory clearances required for the project now in place.

The Narendra Modi government is now just awaiting a final decision from the Supreme Court, where a legal challenge to the project is being heard. The government has set a 2022 deadline to complete the new Parliament building, which will be triangular in shape.

In the last two weeks, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats gave their budgetary and administrative clearances for the Rs 922 crore project. A senior official in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs told ThePrint that the cost will be taken out of the budget heads of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

In the 2020-21 fiscal, the Lok Sabha has been allocated Rs 811.10 crore while the Rajya Sabha has been allocated Rs 436.29 crore.

“The two secretariats won’t be footing the entire cost of the project this fiscal. It will be spread over the next two years,” the official said, adding that the secretariats will not be able to spend their entire budgetary allocation this fiscal because of the finance ministry’s restrictions on spending.

The project has seen a 18.8 per cent cost escalation from the original estimate of Rs 776 crore, at a time the government is trying to shore up its finances to contain the pandemic.

Other clearances in place

Last week, the Delhi Urban Arts Commission gave its go-ahead for the project, while environmental clearance is already in place.

“We have also got the approval from the local civic body, the New Delhi Municipal Council. Now, we are just waiting for the apex court’s green signal,” a second official from the housing and urban affairs ministry said.

The project will be implemented in a phase-wise manner by the Central Public Works Department, the ministry’s construction wing. Gujarat-based architect Bimal Patel’s firm HCP Designs had won the bid to design the project last October.

The new Parliament building will come up in the same premises as the old one, and is part of the Rs 20,000 crore Central Vista redevelopment project.

The Central Vista revamp plan, one of the Modi government’s most ambitious projects to give Delhi’s power corridors a complete makeover, will also include new residences for the Prime Minister and Vice-President, and 10 new building blocks to accommodate government offices, including Shastri Bhavan, Nirman Bhavan, Udyog Bhavan, Krishi Bhavan and Vayu Bhavan.