Guj co gets Delhi facelift order

The Union government has launched an ambitious makeover project of the Parliament building, Central Secretariat and the Central vista -- a three kilometre stretch from India Gate to Rajpath – in the national capital. It has also appointed an architectural consultant who was associated with some important projects during the tenure of Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister.

The Urban Development Ministry, which is helming the project, announced that an Ahmedabad-based company, HCP Design Planning, has been chosen as the architectural consultant.

The company is headed by Bimal Patel, who had also carried out the redevelopment of the Central Secretariat and Vista in Gandhinagar and the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad, apart from the redevelopment of the temple complex in Vaanasi, the Mumbai port complex, and the new campus of IIM Ahmedabad.

The Rs 229.7 crore contract awarded is much below the

estimated Rs 448 crore, Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri said. The consulting cost is usually 3 to 5 per cent of the total cost of a project. But Puri declined to give the figure for the entire redevelopment.

While the timeline given to the Central Public Works Department for completion of the Central Vista project is November 2021, the work on Parliament building is to be completed by March 2022 and the common Central Secretariat by March 2024. The Minister clarified that the old heritage buildings will not be pulled down and changing the exterior of the Parliament building is out of the question.