Monsoon session likely to take place in new Parliament building: Official

A senior government official privy to the development of construction activities said the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has set July 2023 as the new deadline to complete the construction activities of the new Parliament building, reports ETV Bharat's Gautam Debroy.

New Delhi: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has set July 2023 as the new deadline to complete the construction activities of the Parliament building as the monsoon session is expected to take place on the new premises, a senior government official privy to the development of construction activities said.

"Earlier, the budget session of the Parliament was supposed to take place in the new building. As few works are still pending, July has been put as the new deadline to finish the construction activities," the official said. Although no fixed date has been set as of now, the official said that the decision will be taken after reviewing the status of the new Parliament.

The development took place following the surprise visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the construction site. During his visit to the new Parliament building, Prime Minister Modi interacted with the senior officials and took stock of the present situation. In January, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that it will take a few months to complete the new Parliament building.

The official said that the Lok Sabha chamber in the new building is complete with some works on the first and second floors that will have offices of Ministers and the Parliament secretariat approaching towards completion. "Completion work for the new Rajya Sabha chamber is also progressing swiftly," the official said.

Construction of the triangular-shaped new Parliament building started in January 2021 with a deadline of November 2022. Carried out by Tata projects limited, the project is being designed by Gujarat-based HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt. Ltd. It is also the government's design consultant for the Central Vista project.

With an earthquake-resistant structure, the new Parliament will have the capacity to house 1,200 MPs. The project cost of the building is estimated at Rs 971 crore.