New Delhi, May 03: The construction of the Vice President's, and Prime Minister's new residence under the Central Vista project is likely to be completed by December 2022 as the environment ministry's expert appraisal committee (EAC) has granted the necessary clearance for the rest of the buildings under the plan.
It is proposed that the four-storied New Parliament Building would be built in an area of 64,500 sq m at an estimated cost of 971 Crore.
Each Member of Parliament would also be provided with a 40 sq m office space in the redeveloped Shram Shakti Bhawan, construction for which is slated to be completed by 2024.
The New Building is to be equipped with all modern Audio Visual communication facilities and Data network systems. In the new building, the Lok Sabha chamber will have a seating capacity for 888 members, while Rajya Sabha will have 384 seats for members.
The Lok Sabha chamber will have an option to increase its sitting capacity to 1,224 members during joint sessions. This has been done keeping in mind the future increase in the number of members for the two houses.
The Opposition parties have been critical of the government over the construction of the Central Vista project, with a brand new parliament building as its centrepiece during the coronavirus pandemic.
The work on the project has continued despite the second week of lockdown in the Capital that has brought most construction sites to a grinding halt. The construction work for the project has been brought under the ambit of "essential services", a move that been flayed by the opposition.