New Parliament building likely to be inaugurated by May end

Sources in the CPWD told ETV Bharat that a formal announcement of inaugurating the new Parliament building will be announced soon.

New Delhi: The central government is likely to inaugurate the new Parliament Building by the end of this month (May 2023) as the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has recently floated a tender for around Rs 14 lakh floral arrangements and decorations. Sources in the CPWD told ETV Bharat that a formal announcement of inaugurating the new Parliament building will be announced soon.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament building in the presence of other dignitaries," an official said. In March, PM Modi made a surprise visit to both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and took stock of the progress of the work. "The successful bidder for the floral arrangements and decorations will have to make the arrangements in three days when the government decides the day for the inauguration of the new Parliament building," the official informed.

The work for the new Parliament building is almost complete and "a hectic review of ongoing works is going in for the project," the official said. According to the official, Manoj Joshi, secretary in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Shailendra Sharma, director general of CPWD, and several other senior officials are personally monitoring the progress of the work.

The new Parliament building is part of the redevelopment of Central Vista, the nation's power corridor. Revamping the three-km Rajpath from the Rashtrapati Bhavan to the India Gate, constructing a common central secretariat, a new office and residence of the prime minister, and a new vice-president enclave are part of the project being executed by the CPWD, which comes under the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.

The construction work had begun two years ago and the original deadline to complete the project was November last year. Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said in November last year that it was up to the government to select the date of the building's inauguration. In December 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of the new Parliament building which will have modern facilities.