New parliament building: This is how it will look like!

In a late-night tweet on Friday, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that the new Parliament Building, which is coming up in the Sansad Marg area, is still under construction and President Droupadi Murmu will address the joint sitting of both the houses in the existing building.  

Past few days there were speculations that the upcoming Budget session, starting on January 31, will be held in the new building. 

Birla, who at present is in Tanzania for an official tour, tweeted that the New Parliament Building is still under construction, therefore the President will address members of two Houses in the existing Parliament House Building. 

The government has recently released the layout and new photos from inside the new Parliament building, which is part of the Central Vista redevelopment project. The foundation stone of the new Parliament building was laid by PM Narendra Modi in December 2020. The building, whose construction work is on in full swing, is being built by Tata Projects Limited. The new Parliament building features larger halls, a library, ample parking space, and committee rooms.  

The new complex will have 888 seats in the Lok Sabha chamber and 384 seats in the Rajya Sabha chamber. Unlike the present parliament building, it will not have a central hall and the Lok Sabha chamber itself will be able to house 1,272 members in case of a joint session. The rest of the building will have 4 floors with offices of ministers and committee rooms. 

As per the information shared by the government, the halls and office rooms are equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.  

Here are a few glimpses of the new Parliament building: 

The Budget Session of Parliament, which will start on January 31, will be held in two parts. The first leg will be held between January 31 and February 13. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2023 during this period. The Parliament will reconvene on March 13 and go on till April 6.