Picture : Twitter / ANI
As scheduled earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the new Parliament building at an event that was attended by leaders from various political parties, cabinet ministers and ambassadors of different countries.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, foreign Envoys and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla were also present at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the new Parliament building.
“In the last 6 yrs PM Modi laid the foundation of a modern, strong, prosperous & self-reliant India with the inclusion of our proud history. In this continuation, today is a very important day” said Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Minister of India and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs .
Modi also performed the ground-breaking ceremony for the building, which is expected to be completed by 2022. Pujaris from the Sringeri Math Karnataka did the rituals for the ‘bhoomi pujan’ at the new Parliament building site.
#WATCH Prime Minister Narendra Modi lays foundation stone of New Parliament Building in Delhi pic.twitter.com/gF3w7ivTDe
— ANI (@ANI) December 10, 2020
The new building will have an area of 64,500 square metres.
It will also have a grand Constitution Hall to showcase India’s democratic heritage, a lounge for members of Parliament, a library, multiple committee rooms, dining areas and ample parking space.
In the new building, the Lok Sabha chamber will have a seating capacity for 888 members, while the Rajya Sabha will have 384 seats for members. The Lok Sabha chamber will have an option to increase its sitting capacity to 1,224 members during joint sessions.
Delhi: Foundation stone laying ceremony of the new Parliament building is underway.
Tata Trusts’ Chairman Ratan Tata, Union Minister HS Puri, Dy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh & various religious leaders also present
Tata Projects Ltd has been given contract for the project pic.twitter.com/geeGWik99N
— ANI (@ANI) December 10, 2020
This has been done keeping in mind the future increase in the number of members for the two houses.
At present, Lok Sabha has a sanctioned strength of 543 members and Rajya Sabha 245.
In September this year, Tata Projects Limited won the bid to construct the new Parliament building. The new building will be constructed close to the existing one under the Central Vista redevelopment project.
The existing Parliament House building will be suitably retro-fitted to provide more functional spaces for parliamentary events, to ensure its usage along with the new building.
The existing building is a massive circular edifice of 560 feet in diameter. The Parliament House Estate is enclosed by an ornamental red sandstone wall or iron grills with iron gates that can be closed when occasions demand. The building has 12 gates.
