New Delhi: The first set of three Common Central Secretariat (CCS) buildings, which was to be ready by November, will be ready by December 2024, ThePrint has learnt.
With this, over 50 percent of the Rs 13,500 crore-Central Vista redevelopment project is likely to be completed by the end of 2024, according to two senior housing and urban affairs ministry officials.
One of the ministry officials said, “The Parliament and the Central Vista Avenue work is over. By 2024-end, a lot of other ongoing components of the project will be ready.”
“The work on the Central Vista Redevelopment project started in 2021 and within three years, over 50 percent of work will be completed. It is significant, given the scale of the project,” the official added.
Construction of the first three CCS buildings — the CCS will house 51 ministries and departments spread across 10 buildings, and a central conference hall — started in December 2021 and was to be completed by November this year. The Rs 3,141.99 crore-project was awarded to Larsen and Toubro in October 2021.
The second official said, “The three buildings will be ready by December next year and will have space to accommodate close to 18,000 government employees. The remaining 22,000-plus employees will be accommodated in the remaining seven buildings. It is a huge project. At present, close to 40 percent of the project is complete. The work is going on at a fast pace.”
Apart from the CCS buildings, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), which is the nodal department for the execution of the project, is likely to invite bids for the construction of CCS 10, one of the ten buildings, which will come up where the Raksha Bhawan, the residential facility for senior defence officers, is located.
At present, construction work of the Vice President’s Enclave and Executive Enclave, which includes the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), India House, Cabinet Secretariat, and National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), is on.
“Construction work of VP Enclave is almost 80 percent complete whereas the Executive Enclave is around 15 percent done,” said the second official. The VP Enclave, work on which started towards 2021-end, was to be completed by November 2022. “It (VP Enclave) is likely to be ready by early next year,” said the official.
The entire Central Vista project, senior officials said, is likely to go beyond the initial deadline of 2026.
“For the construction of the next set of CCS buildings, the existing buildings such as Nirman Bhawan etc. have to be demolished. This is possible only when offices operating from existing buildings are shifted to the new buildings. By 2027-28, over 70 percent of the work is likely to be completed,” said the first official.
ThePrint has reached the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for an official comment. The story will be updated as and when the response is received.
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Traffic survey to be done
With new infrastructure being developed in the heart of the city, ministry officials said efforts are being made to ensure that there is no traffic congestion in the area. For this, the CPWD is going to get a traffic circulation study done.
The second official said, “We have got a traffic volume study done earlier. Now, we are getting a study done of the traffic movement and circulation in and around the areas. Based on the study, measures will be taken to ensure there is no traffic congestion once the entire project is completed.”
The study, officials said, will be carried out in the surrounding areas as well. “We will also look at the influence areas (areas whose traffic will be impacted due to construction work) up to 4-5 km from the project site. The study will be completed within 4-5 months. We are in the process of hiring a consultant for it.”
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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