According to the officials, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the two office complexes of the Defence Ministry on Thursday, September 16. Over 7,000 defence employees belonging to 27 different offices and the three services will move from their current workplaces to two new buildings in and around the Raisina Hills area, they added. The process of shifting the existing offices to the new buildings will start in the next few days, they added.
About new Defence offices:
- The new buildings provide a modern eco-friendly and green building environment.
- The two new multi-storey buildings, one at the Kasturba Gandhi Marg area and another at Africa Avenue are constructed at a cost of Rs 775 crore by the defence ministry.
- The two buildings have a total space of 9.60 lakhs sq feet as against 9.22 lakh sq feet vacated by the 27 offices in various hutments and office complexes.
- 14 offices are being relocated to the Kasturba Gandhi Marg complex having a built-up area of 4.52 lakh sq feet while 13 offices are being relocated to the Africa Avenue building that has a total built-up area of 5.08 lakh sq feet.
- The total land parcel required for the new office complexes is 13 acres as against 50 acres where the existing offices are spread across.
- Having 27 offices in only two buildings will ensure greater efficiency, coordination and working environment.
- In addition to the office space, the two buildings have provisions for multi-level car parking for a total of over 1500 cars.
About Central Vista:
The ambitious project of the NDA government at the Centre aims to redevelop a 3.2-km stretch which is the Central Vista. It lies at the heart of Lutyens Delhi built by Britishers in the 1930s. The project involves demolishing and rebuilding several government buildings, including iconic landmarks, and constructing a new Parliament. The project is being executed by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and is expected to be completed by 2024.
The estimated cost of the Central Vista project is Rs 20,000 crores. Out of this, around Rs. 1,000 crores are to be used for the construction of a new Parliament Building.
Tata Projects won the bid to construct the new Parliament for Rs 861.90 crores in September 2019. The designers were finalised in October 2019 by the government and the project to design the building is given to Ahmedabad-based Architect Bimal Patel’s company HCP Design.
About Bimal Patel – The Architect of the project
Bimal Patel is an Ahmedabad-based architect, with experience of over 35 years. He leads the HCP Designs Planning and Management Private Limited and is the President of CEPT University of Ahmedabad. Bimal Patel lives and practices architecture and city planning in Ahmedabad. His significant projects include Aga Khan University – Hyderabad, PDPU – Gandhinagar, Re-development of CG Road – Ahmedabad, The Gujarat High Court building – Ahmedabad, Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project – Ahmedabad, Central Vista Project – New Delhi, among others. Bimal Patel received the Padma Shri award for his contribution in the fields of architecture and planning in 2019.
