Republic Day parade in 2022 to be held at the new central avenue: Hardeep Singh Puri

Jan 11,2021

Republic Day parade in 2022 to be held at the new central avenue: Hardeep Singh Puri

Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the cost of the Central Vista project will be absorbed by each ministry through their own budgets, and said the overall figure will come out to be much lower than what is being speculated.

The Republic Day parade in 2022 will be held at the new central avenue, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said even as the 14-member heritage panel on January 11 gave its nod for construction of the new parliament building under the government's Central Vista redevelopment plan, paving the way for the work to start in the next few days.

He told reporters that the cost of the Central Vista project will be absorbed by each ministry through their own budgets. “The overall figure will come out to be much lower than what is being speculated,” he said.

Work on redevelopment of Rajpath will start soon after this year's Republic Day parade. The work is expected to be completed in the next 10 months and the 2022 Republic Day parade will be held on a redeveloped Rajpath, Puri said.

“The development or redevelopment of Central Vista being undertaken with the objective of upgrading Parliament's space, facilities and better equipping the Central Vista Avenue. The Republic Day parade in 2022 will be at the new central avenue,” the minister said.

“We are spending something like Rs 1,000 crore per year on rentals. The cost of the Central Vista project can be recovered through the construction of environment friendly, efficient new buildings,” he said.
On criticism that there was not much consultation on the project, Puri said the government has held talks with many people, including consultants, experts, editors and others, on it.

He said the government will soon put in public domain all the consultations it had, adding a website will also be launched that will have all the details pertaining to the Central Vista project.

"Consultation is inherent in what we do. If the suggestion is that some parts are not being consulted widely enough, we are quite happy to correct that," Puri said.

The Heritage Conservation Committee on January 11 gave its approval for the construction of the new parliament building days after the Supreme Court asked the government to seek its nod.

Housing Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra told reporters that the committee discussed the proposal and gave its approval.
“The committee, headed by the ministry's additional secretary, granted approval to the construction of the new parliament building after examining and discussing the proposal,” he said and explained that a public hearing was not mandatory before granting approval.

The panel includes officers from different organisations and experts as members.

Mishra said the committee's members are the ones who look into what is provided under unified building by-laws based on which they accept or reject a proposal or suggest modifications.

Mishra also said the  government has always been all about public consultation on all projects.

Last week, infrastructure firm Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Ltd emerged as the lowest bidder for the Rajpath redevelopment project quoting Rs 477.08 crore, which is 4.99 percent less than the estimated cost. The Rajpath redevelopment project includes large scale stone work, construction of underpasses, underground amenities blocks and horticulture work, the official said.

In September last year, Tata Project had won the tender work for the construction of the new Parliament building.

On January 5, the Supreme Court gave the green signal to the Central Vista revamp project, holding there was “no infirmity” in the grant of environment clearance and permissions for change of land use.

Announced in September 2019, the Central Vista revamp envisages a new triangular Parliament building, with a seating capacity for 900 to 1,200 Members of Parliament (MPs), which is to be constructed by August 2022 when the country will be celebrating its 75th Independence Day.