As the Centre moves ahead with the Central Vista redevelopment plan, PM Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for a new Parliament building on December 10 at 1 pm, Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla said, on Saturday.
This move is to celebrate 75 years of India's independence in 2022 with a new building constructed by Indian architects and workers.
“The new building will showcase the cultural diversity of the country. Hopefully, in the 75th year of independence (2022), Parliament session will be held in the new building,” Birla said.
He said that as many as 1,224 MPs can sit together in the building, while a new office complex for lawmakers of both the Houses would be built at the site of the existing Shram Shakti Bhawan.
Here's all you need to know about the new building:
The new building will be constructed close to the existing one under the Central Vista redevelopment project.
The new building will have an area of 64,500 square metres.
The structure will be built at a total estimated cost of Rs 971 crore.
The Tata Projects Limited won the bid to construct the new parliament building in September, 2020 at a cost of Rs 83 lakh at the time of bidding.
The new building was designed by an Ahmedabad-based firm - HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt Ltd, who have also designed the Gujarat High Court.
The design will integrate 'indigenous architecture', involving nearly 2,000 workers for construction, 200 artists, and 9,000 others periphrastically, from different parts of the country, according to reports.
According to Om Birla, the new Parliament will have four floors - basement, ground, first and second floors in the new building. Its height will be the same as the old building.
The building will have a total of 120 office spaces including committee rooms and major offices.
In the new structure, the Lok Sabha chamber will have a seating capacity for 888 members, while Rajya Sabha will have 384 seats for the upper house members.
Apart from the two Sabhas, the building will also include spaces for a grand Constitution Hall to showcase India's democratic heritage, a lounge for members of Parliament, a library, multiple committee rooms, dining areas. Ample parking space is also to be provided.
Meanwhile, the existing Parliament House building will be suitably retro-fitted to provide more functional spaces and conserved as an archaeological property of India.
The existing building is a massive circular edifice of 560 feet in diameter with twelve gates.
(With PTI inputs)