PM inaugurates new Parl building, says ‘it will mark new dawn of developed India’
New building, spread over 64,500 sqm, was ready in record time of two and half years
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building here on Sunday morning and installed the historic Sengol in the Lok Sabha chamber.
He described the inauguration of the new Parliament building as an “immortalised” moment in the country’s development journey, asserting it will mark the dawn of a selfreliant and developed India which will also inspire the progress of other nations.
In a speech delivered from the grand and cavernous Lok Sabha hall decorated in peacock motif, Modi said the new Parliament reflected the aspirations and resolve of the “new India” to set and work towards achieving greater heights.
“Every decision taken here will lay the foundation of India’s glorious future... the way to empower the poor, Dalits, backwards, tribals, divyangs and other marginalised sections goes through here,” he said, adding “each brick and wall of this Parliament building should be dedicated to the welfare of the poor”.
About 25 parties attended the event while 20 opposition parties boycotted it, accusing the prime minister of “sidelining” President Droupadi Murmu.
However, Murmu, in her speech read out at the event, expressed deep satisfaction at the inauguration by Modi who, she said, symbolises Parliament’s trust.
Lauding the building for its reflection of India’s diversity and traditional riches in its architecture, Prime Minister Modi said the new India is shedding the “slave mentality” which had crept into the country after hundreds of years of bondage.
He equated the 25-year period - from now till the centenary of India’s independence in 2047 - to the similar time gap between Mahatma Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement which had ended in 1922 and the country’s freedom.
Gandhi’s movement led to a “new consciousness” among the masses and filled them with confidence as they devoted themselves to freedom, he said, adding that
every citizen should work similarly for a developed India in the next 25 years.
Modi’s address came after he inaugurated the new building this morning at a grand ceremony which included a havan, a multifaith prayer ceremony and the installation of the Sengol in a special enclosure in the Lok Sabha chamber.
The prime minister said the nine years of his government mark a period of reconstruction and work for the poor’s welfare. He expressed his satisfaction over this hour of pride, noting that four crore houses and 11 crore toilets for the poor were built during the period. Over four lakh km of roads to connect villages, more than 50,000 `Amrit sarovars’ (pond), and more than 30,000 new `Panchayat Bhawans’ were also built, he added. “From Panchayat Bhawans to Parliament only one inspiration guided us, that is, the development of the nation and its people”, he said.
“When a country like India, full of diversity, with a huge population that tackles various challenges, moves forward with a belief, it inspires many countries of the world. “Every achievement of India is going to become an achievement for different countries in different parts of the world in the coming days,” he said.
The prime minister asserted that India is not only a democratic nation but is also the mother of democracy. “Our democracy is our inspiration, our Constitution our resolve. Parliament is the best representative of this inspiration and resolution,” he said, adding that the new Parliament building was a perfect example of the coexistence of the old and new.
Speaking to an audience, which included MPs, chief ministers, members of the higher judiciary and other dignitaries, he invoked India’s ancient glory which included its architecture and town-planning and lamented that after centuries of slavery, Indians were besotted by constructions of other countries.
India today is bending that “stream of ancient glory” to its way again, he asserted.
“Every India is proud today looking at the new Parliament. It represents heritage and architecture, art and skill, culture and the voice of Constitution,” he said, lauding the use of material from different parts of the country in the building to symbolise “Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat”.
With the Opposition criticising the government’s decision to construct the new building, Modi asserted that it was becoming difficult for everyone to do their work in the old building due to various technological and space constraints.
It was being discussed for a decade or two that a new Parliament building is needed, he said, adding it also needed to be considered that more MPs will join Parliament, a development that may occur after delimitation post-2026.
Soon after the prime minister arrived in Lok Sabha chamber amidst chants of `Modi, Modi’, the messages by President Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar were read out, while Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Harivansh also addressed the gathering.
In his speech, Modi talked about the `Sengol’, saying that it was a symbol of power transfer from the British and had now been given the respect it deserves after being kept in Anand Bhawan in Prayagraj. “In the Chola empire, it (Sengol) was considered a symbol of the Kartavya path (path of duty), Seva Path (path of service) and Rashtra path (path of the nation),” Modi said. The prime minister also pointed out that the construction of the new Parliament building gave employment to 60,000 workers and a digital gallery dedicated to them has also been built in the complex.
The building has been completed in about two-anda-half years at an estimated cost of nearly Rs 1,200 crore.
He said the new Parliament building will be a testament to the dawn of Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India). “It will be a witness to our journey towards a Viksit Bharat (developed India),” Modi said at the event attended by former president Ram Nath Kovind, Chief Ministers Y S Jagan Reddy, Yogi Adityanath, Eknath Shinde and Neiphu Rio, foreign envoys, Parliamentarians and people from different walks of life.
Earlier, dressed in traditional attire, Modi walked into Parliament premises from its Gate No. 1 and was welcomed by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Amid Vedic chants by priests from Karnataka’s Shringeri Math, the prime minister performed “Ganapati Homam” to invoke divine blessings.
The prime minister prostrated before the Sengol and sought blessings from high priests of various adheenams in Tamil Nadu with the holy sceptre in hand.
Modi then carried the Sengol in a procession amid tunes of nadaswaram and chanting of Vedic mantras to the new Parliament building and installed it in a special enclosure on the right side of the Speaker’s chair in the Lok Sabha chamber. The prime minister felicitated with shawls and souvenirs some of the workers for their key role in the construction of the new Parliament building. The new Parliament building, constructed by Tata Projects Ltd, will have a grand constitution hall to showcase India’s democratic heritage, a lounge for MPs, a library, multiple committee rooms, dining areas and ample parking space. The triangular-shaped four-storey building has a built-up area of 64,500 square metres. The building has three main gates — Gyan Dwar, Shakti Dwar, and Karma Dwar. It will have separate entrances for VIPs, MPs, and visitors.
The material used for the new building has been acquired from various parts of the country.
The teakwood used in the building was sourced from Nagpur in Maharashtra, while the red and white sandstone was procured from Sarmathura in Rajasthan.
The sandstone for the Red Fort and Humayun’s Tomb in the national capital was also known to have been sourced from Sarmathura.
The Kesharia green stone has been procured from Udaipur, the red granite from Lakha near Ajmer and the white marble has been sourced from Ambaji in Rajasthan.
“In a way, the entire country came together to construct the temple of democracy, thus reflecting the true spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat,” an official said.
The steel structure for the false ceilings in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha chambers have been sourced from the union territory of Daman and Diu, while the furniture in the new building was crafted in Mumbai.
The stone `jaali’ (lattice) works dotting the building were sourced from Rajnagar in Rajasthan and Noida in Uttar Pradesh. The materials for the Ashoka Emblem were sourced from Aurangabad in Maharashtra and Jaipur in Rajasthan, while the Ashok Chakra donning the massive walls of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha chambers and the exteriors of the Parliament building were procured from Indore in Madhya Pradesh.
The new Parliament building used manufactured sand or M-sand from Charkhi Dadri in Haryana for creating concrete mix for the construction activities.
M-Sand is considered environment friendly as it is manufactured by crushing large hard stones or granite and not by dredging of river beds. The fly ash bricks used in the construction were sourced from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, while brass works and pre-cast trenches were from Ahmedabad in Gujarat. Built at an estimated cost of Rs 1200 crore, the new Parliament building can comfortably seat 888 members in the Lok Sabha chamber and 300 in the Rajya Sabha chamber.
In case of a joint sitting of both the Houses, a total of 1,280 members can be accommodated in the Lok Sabha chamber.
The prime minister had laid the foundation stone of the new Parliament building, a key component of the ambitious Central Vista project, on December 10, 2020. The construction work started in early 2021 and took a little over two years to complete. The present Parliament building was completed in 1927, and is now 96 years old.
Over the years, the old building was found to be inadequate for present day requirements. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha had passed resolutions urging the government to construct a new building for Parliament.
The existing building served as independent India’s first Parliament and witnessed the adoption of the Constitution. Originally called the Council House, the building housed the Imperial Legislative Council. The Parliament building witnessed the addition of two floors in 1956 to address the demand for more space. In 2006, the Parliament Museum was added to showcase the 2,500 years of rich democratic heritage of India. Officials said the old building was never designed to accommodate a bicameral legislature and the seating arrangements were cramped and cumbersome, with no desks beyond the second row. The Central Hall in the old Parliament building has seating capacity only for 440 people and the need for more space was acutely felt during joint sittings of both the houses.