Central Vista: CPWD floats new tender, cuts down project cost by Rs 225 cr

The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has floated a revised pre-qualification bid to build an office complex for MPs at a cost of Rs 1,210 crore, reducing the project cost by Rs 225 crore.

The proposed buildings will come up at plot number 119 in Lutyens' Delhi, where the Transport Bhawan and the Shram Shakti Bhawan are currently located.

According to the revised bid document floated on Thursday, the total plinth area of the proposed buildings is approximately 98,000 square metres while in the previous tender, it was 1,18,000 square metres.

The buildings will have eight floors. In the earlier tender, the proposal was for 10-storey structures.

New chambers for the members of Parliament are part of the Union government's ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project and those will be built by demolishing the Transport Bhawan and the Shram Shakti Bhawan.

The project also envisages a plan to build a tunnel that will connect the MPs' chambers with the new Parliament building being built by Tata Projects Limited.

In its latest bid document, the government's construction agency said the proposed complex with the MPs' chambers will be built at a cost of Rs 1,210 crore against the Rs 1,435 crore estimated in the previous tender floated in November.

"The existing structures on plot number 119 are to be demolished before the start of new construction. The existing boundary wall also needs to be demolished and new boundary wall shall be constructed as per design and drawings provided by the department.

"Tree transplantation as per the requirement to be done and the existing services, if any, to be diverted," it stated.

The existing government offices operating from the Transport Bhawan and the Shram Shakti Bhawan will have to vacate the complex.

The CPWD said the proposed buildings will be designed to improve potency and functioning through a carefully-planned formation of the MPs' offices with supporting facilities.

The work includes the construction of the civil structure, furniture, interiors, external development and landscaping. It also involves stone masonry, stone carving, wood work and system glazing, the agency said.

The redevelopment project of the Central Vista -- the country's power corridor -- envisages a new triangular Parliament building, a common central secretariat, the revamping of the three-kilometre-long Rajpath from Vijay Chowk to India Gate, a new prime minister's residence and a prime minister's office, and a new vice-president's enclave.