With the lowest bid, Tata Projects Limited, last Wednesday, won the bid to construct the new Parliament building. The new Parliament building is part of the Central Vista redevelopment project and has envisioned it as a triangular building, with a common central secretariat. It also aims at revamping the 3-km-long Rajpath, from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate.
While the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) estimated the construction cost of the parliament building to be ₹889 crore, Tata Projects Ltd had submitted a bid of ₹861.90 crore, lowest among the seven bidders. The entire project will cost around ₹20,000 crore.
According to the original plan, the new building was to be ready by 2022, to coincide with 75 years of Independence but the construction is now expected to take about 21 months. The work on the Central Vista has been deemed an essential service, with work continuing during the second wave of the pandemic.
The proposed Parliament building has been designed in consultation with the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Secretariats, security agencies, and Speakers and committees.
The CPWD, in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, has stated that the Lok Sabha chamber in the proposed Parliament building will be almost three times the size of present chamber, while the new Rajya Sabha Chamber will be four times the current one.
The new Lok Sabha Chamber is believed to accommodate 876 members and 1224 members during joint sessions, while the new Rajya Sabha chamber will be able to accommodate 400 members.
According to a presentation by HCP Design Planning and Management Private Limited, which has been tasked with redeveloping Delhi’s Central Vista, India’s national emblem is likely to sit atop the new Parliament building replacing a spire that was meant to come up in an earlier version.
A housing and urban affairs ministry official told Hindustan Times that the design with the state emblem has been finalised for the construction tender.
The new Parliament building with a 60,000 metre square built-up area is set to come up on plot number 118 of the Parliament House Estate, which currently houses a reception, boundary walls and other temporary structures.
The central foyer will most likely be renamed as the Constitution Hall as it is expected to display the Constitution for public viewing. HCP stated in the presentation that it will have sculptures of parliamentarians and images representing the diversity of India and at one side of the Hall, there will be the Constitution gallery, where the Constitution will be displayed. A library is also expected to come up near the central foyer.
The triangular complex is designed to include 120 offices with six separate entrances for members of the public, MPs and VIPs, including the Speaker and the vice president.
HCP, which won the bid last year, will also construct a separate building to house MP offices where the Transport Bhawan and the Shram Shakti Bhawan currently stand.