A official of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs said an area, roughly 4 sq km in size, would be completely revamped along the central vista

The Union government is planning to restructure the seat of power in the national capital, senior officials said on Thursday, elaborating on a decision that might include revamping or building a new Parliament House by 2022 and razing a dozen government offices to build an integrated complex by 2024. [He]  said an area, roughly 4 sq km in size, would be completely revamped along the central vista or Rajpath, which runs from Rashtrapati Bhavan through Vijay Chowk and India Gate in central Delhi. 

The plan includes razing buildings such as Shastri Bhawan, Udyog Bhawan and Krishi Bhawan that house important government ministries to build a common secretariat for roughly 70,000 central government employees who now currently work across 30 buildings. The deadline for construction is March 2024, the official added. 1

A second official said that the plan also included having a new Parliament by India’s 75th Independence Day in 2022 but a decision had not been taken whether the current building, a heritage structure completed in 1927, will be revamped or a new structure built in its vicinity. 

“Every building that is more than 50 years old needs to be razed or revamped. It is the Prime Minister’s vision to have a global architecture and to redevelop and restructure the central vista, central secretariat and the Parliament house,” the second official said, requesting anonymity. 

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  • 1. The idea to redevelop the Parliament complex was also floated during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s tenure in 2012. Then urban development minister Kamal Nath had submitted a report to the Lok Sabha Secretariat, recommending a new structure be built across Vijay Path as was envisaged by Lutyens himself.