PM Modi to Lay Foundation for New Parliament Building Next Week

New building will be designed as a ‘triangle’ and will be constructed close to the existing complex.

PM Narendra Modi.

(Photo Courtesy: BJP4India/Twitter)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay a foundation and perform ‘bhumi pujan’ for a new parliament building in the national capital on 10 December.

Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla met PM Modi earlier at his residence to officially invite him, reported NDTV. According to the report, the new parliament building will be constructed by Tata Projects Limited at a cost of Rs 861.90 crore and is said to be completed in one year.

The new building will be bigger in size and equipped with the latest digital interfaces as a step towards creating 'paperless offices'. All the MPs will be given separate offices in the building, reported news agency PTI.

It will be designed as a ‘triangle’ and will be constructed close to the existing complex.

The Lok Sabha chamber will have a seating capacity for 888 members, and Rajya Sabha will have a seating capacity for 384 MPs, PTI reported earlier. Currently, the Lok Sabha has a sanctioned strength of 543 members and the Rajya Sabha of 245.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has accused the central government of misplaced priorities over the construction of the building at a time when India is fighting coronavirus pandemic.

The new parliament building will have a grand Constitution Hall, a lounge for members of Parliament, a library, multiple committee rooms, dining areas and ample parking space.

The existing Parliament building had been designed by British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker. Construction of the building had commenced in 1921 and completed six years later. Before the independence of India, the building was used for Imperial Legislative Council. The building has been declared as a Heritage Grade I structure by the government.  

The foundation stone of the present Lok Sabha building was laid on 12 February 1921 and the building was finally inaugurated on 18 January 1927 by the then Governor-General of India, Lord Irwin.

(With inputs from NDTV, PTI)