Central Vista Project: PM Modi To Inaugurate New Defence Ministry Office, 7000 Employees To Relocate

The space which will be vacated at the existing Defence Ministry will be redeveloped for the Prime Minister's new residence and office as part of the Central Vista Redevelopment project. 

The Defence Ministry will be vacating about 50 acres of land at Dalhousie Road near South Block. (Image Source: PTI)

New Delhi: Over 7,000 employees belonging to 27 different offices to the Defence Ministry and the three services will move to two new complexes on Africa Avenue and Kasturba Gandhi Marg in New Delhi. 

The new office complex will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi Narendra Modi on Thursday.

The space which will be vacated at the existing Defence Ministry at Dalhousie Road near South Block will be redeveloped for the Prime Minister's new residence and office as part of the Central Vista Redevelopment project. 

According to a PTI report, officials said that the two new multi-storey buildings, one at the Kasturba Gandhi Marg area and another at Africa Avenue, have been constructed at a cost of Rs 775 crore by the defence ministry. 

The Defence Ministry will be vacating about 50 acres of land to be developed as an Executive Enclave for the Central Vista project. The two buildings have a total space of 9.60 lakhs sq feet as against 9.22 lakh sq feet vacated by the 27 offices in various hutments and office complexes.

The complex on Africa Avenue is scattered across four blocks and offers a space of 5.08 lakh square feet while the KG Marg set up has three blocks and an office area of 4.52 lakh square feet. The two complexes together have parking space for 1,500 cars. The new buildings will also provide modern amenities, connectivity and welfare facilities like canteens and banks.

The new buildings, constructed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development as part of its Central Vista project, provide a modern eco-friendly, green building environment.

"The location and space of these buildings have been so designed that pre-existing trees have not been disturbed," an official was quoted by PTI.

The plan also includes the relocation of the Vice President's new residence behind North Block and 10 new building blocks to accommodate government offices, including Shastri Bhavan, Nirman Bhavan, Udyog Bhavan, Krishi Bhavan and Vayu Bhavan.

A joint coordination committee was set up to coordinate various requirements of specific organisations, space allocation and common amenities which included representatives of the Department of Military Affairs, Department of Defence Production, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (ESW), Department of Defence R and D and three services.