The exercise for the construction of new parliament complex in New Delhi has begun with the Central government finalising the bidder.
Tata Projects Limited has emerged as the lower of the two bidders for the tender by quoting Rs 861.90 crore for the construction.
This has given rise to an interesting debate in a section of media as to whether the new Parliament building is cheaper or costlier, when compared to the “temporary secretariat” constructed at Velagapudi in Amaravati by the previous Telugu Desam Party government led by N Chandrababu Naidu in 2015.
According to an estimate, the cost of construction for the interim secretariat at Velagapudi was around Rs 750 crore, though as per the AP Capital Region Development Authority records, the TDP government had incurred Rs 526.57 crore on interior and exterior infrastructure.
It is not exactly known whether this is besides the money spent on roads, landscaping, beautification, development of parking space etc.
If the construction of “temporary secretariat” at a cost of Rs 750 crore five years ago, it is definitely costlier, compared to Rs 861.90 crore being spent on Parliament.
Interestingly, construction major L&T which had quoted Rs 865 crore for Parliament building, had constructed the temporary secretariat in Amaravati, along with Shapoorji Pallonji.
By the way, the Telangana government, too, has called for tenders for the construction of a brand new Secretariat in place of the recently demolished old complex. And the estimated cost of construction is Rs 500 crore.
Since this is a permanent structure, it is definitely cheaper compared to Chandrababu Naidu’s temporary secretariat at Amaravati!
