New Delhi: 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the construction site of the new Parliament building in Delhi late Sunday evening. Clad in a white kurta-churidar along with a safety helmet, he was seen inspecting the work-in-progress.

Several photos showed PM Modi doing the first-hand inspection of the construction status of the building which is being built at an estimated cost of ₹ 971 crore. The construction is expected to be completed by 2022.

The Prime Minister had a hectic schedule after returning from his three-day visit to the US, where he addressed the United Nations General Assembly and attended the Quad summit. Earlier in the day had a meeting with Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and JP Nadda following which he visited the site. He visited the site at around 8.45 PM and spent around an hour at the site.

In one of the photos, the Prime Minister was seen interacting with the workers at the site.

This was the first visit by the Prime Minister to the new parliament building site, whose construction amid the pandemic have received a lot of criticism from the opposition parties. The opposition parties say the project should be stopped to save funds for management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new parliament 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.

The Lok Sabha chamber in the new building will have a seating capacity for 888 members, while the Rajya Sabha will have 384 seats for members.

Laying the foundation stone for the new Parliament in December last year, the Prime Minister had said the new building will fulfill the country’s aspirations of the 21st Century while symbolising the “co-existence of the new and the old”. “The (existing) building is now looking to retire. It is incumbent upon all of us to give 21st Century India a new Parliament building,” he had said.

The main Central Vista project envisages building a new Parliament House, a new residential complex to house offices and the Prime Minister and the Vice President. It will also have new office buildings and a Central Secretariat to accommodate various ministries’ offices.

The government has so far spent ₹ 238 crore for the construction of the new Parliament building and ₹ 63 crore for the redevelopment of Centre Vista Avenue. According to the government, the estimated costs to be incurred on these two projects for the financial year 2021-22 is ₹ 1,289 crore.

Earlier, the government had said the ongoing Central Vista redevelopment project, which includes the construction of 10 new Secretariat buildings, would lead to a saving of ₹ 1,000 crore in the form of rent for government offices.