Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the much awaited new Parliament building on May 28.
The four-storey building has been constructed at an estimated cost of ₹970 crore. The building has been designed by Ahmedabad-based HCP Design, Planning and Management, and constructed by Tata Projects Limited.
The new Parliament will have a seating capacity of 888 for the Lok Sabha, as against 543 in the old Parliament House, and 300 in the Rajya Sabha as compared with 250 earlier.
Since there is no Central Hall in the new Parliament, joint sittings of members of both Houses will be held in the Lok Sabha, which will be able to accommodate 1,280 Members of Parliament at such times.
Till now, joint sessions of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been held in the Central Hall, which has a seating capacity of 436 people, with extra seats added during the joint sittings.
The new Parliament is being inaugurated two days after the Modi government completes nine years in office. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath of office in his first term on May 26, 2014.
General Elections are scheduled to be held in 2024.
“Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday and invited him to inaugurate the New Parliament Building. Construction of the new Parliament building is complete now and the new building symbolises the spirit of self,” the Lok Sabha Secretariat said in a statement.
This in effect means that the monsoon session of Parliament will be held in the new building.
The present building of the Parliament was completed in 1927, which makes it almost 100 years old. Lack of space and the need to modernise is stated to be the chief cause for building a new Parliament.
Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha passed resolutions urging the government to construct a new Parliament building. The foundation stone of the new building was laid by Mr. Modi in December 2020.
Construction was expected to be completed in 2022, coinciding with India’s 75th year of Independence.
The foundation stone of the old Parliament was laid in 1921. It will now be conserved as a heritage asset.
