Seven construction companies, including Tata, L&T and a Uttar Pradesh government undertaking, submitted bids for pre-qualification for the contract to build a new parliament building.
As part of the Central Vista redevelopment project, the construction of the new Parliament building, close to the existing one, is expected to be completed in 21 months at an estimated cost of Rs 889 crore.
The Central Vista houses the Rashtrapati Bhawan, Parliament, North and South blocks, the India Gate and the National Archives.
According to a senior Central Public Works Department (CPWD) official, the pre-qualification bids were opened on Tuesday afternoon and the bids were received from seven companies – Tata Project Ltd, Larsen & Toubro Limited, ITD Cementation India Ltd, NCC Ltd., Shapoorji Pallonji and Co Pvt Ltd, Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirman Nigam Limited and PSP Projects Ltd.
CPWD, a prime construction agency under the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, said the new building will be constructed at plot number 118 of the Parliament House Estate.
The proposed new Parliament building shall be a reinforced cement concrete framed structure, according to the CPWD.
“The plinth of the building shall match with the plinth of the existing building, which is approximately 1.8 meters above the ground level,” it said and added “The total plinth area of the proposed building is approximately 65,000 sqm including the basement area of approximately 16,921 sqm. The building will be ground plus two storeyed with one basement.”
According to the Ministry, the existing Parliament building will continue to function during the entire period of execution of this project.
The plan entails the existing temporary structures on plot number 118 will be demolished before the construction starts. The existing boundary wall also needs to be demolished and a new one will be constructed as per the design and drawings provided by the department.
The new parliament building is expected to be constructed by 2022, when India would celebrate its 75th year of independence.
As per the notification, the new parliament house building will come up on a triangular plot, designated as Plot No 2, opposite to the existing parliament. Measuring 9.5 acres, the plot being allotted for it was a ‘recreational (district park)’ under the earlier land use.
Earlier, in 2015, the then speaker Sumitra Mahajan had written to then Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu urging him to initiate measures to construct a new parliament building as the existing building was in distress and not able to meet the growing demands of staff, security, media visitors and parliamentary activities.
The existing parliament building was designed by British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker and its construction was completed six years after it began in 1921. The building housed the Imperial Legislative Council before independence.