PM to inaugurate Kartavya Bhawan, first of CCS buildings, on Aug 6 

In a statement Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office said the building was “designed to foster efficiency, innovation, and collaboration by bringing together various Ministries and Departments currently scattered across Delhi.”

These ministries were earlier located in Krishi Bhawan, North Block, South Block, Udyog Bhawan and Shastri Bhawan. The office of the Principal Scientific Advisor will also move into the building, the government said.

The complex will be spread over 1.5 lakh square metres, across two basements, ground floor plus six.

“Solar panels on the roof of Kartavya Bhavan 3 will generate over 5.34 lakh units of electricity every year. Solar water heaters meet more than a quarter of the daily hot water need. Charging stations for electric vehicles are also provided,” the statement said.

The building, known as CCS 3 for now, has been built as a part of a complex of three buildings at the site of the erstwhile Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts on Janpath. The PM is expected to visit and inaugurate the building at around noon, followed by a public event at Kartavya Path to be attended by the Council of Ministers and thousands of government officials starting at 6 pm, it is learnt.

Kartavya Bhavan, located on New Delhi’s Kartavya Path, on Monday. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)

On Monday, preparations for the event on Kartavya Path, earlier known as Rajpath, were in full-swing. Workers and security personnel could be seen putting up tents and patrolling the area. While Ministries have started moving into the building, the CCS 1 and 2 are yet to be completed.

As a part of the Central Vista redevelopment plan proposed by the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry in 2019, North Block and South Block are set to be converted into the national museum, while the other office buildings are expected to be demolished to make way for new CCS buildings.

In a reply in the Lok Sabha on July 24, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister of State Tokhan Sahu had said that the CCS 1, 2 and 3 complex was 88% complete and expected to be completed by September this year.

In all, the plan included 10 CCS buildings to be constructed along both sides of Kartavya Path, which stretches from India Gate to Rashtrapati Bhawan. As of now, work on CCS 10 (at the site of Raksha Bhawan) and CCS 6 and 7 (at the site of the old Vice-President’s house and Vigyan Bhawan Annexe on Maulana Azad Road) is ongoing. The projects for the remaining buildings are yet to be started.

Work on the CCS 1,2 and 3 buildings had started in 2021, after Larsen & Toubro won the contract with a bid of `3,141.99 crore. As a part of the Central Vista masterplan, the government completed the redevelopment of Rajpath and renamed it Kartavya Path in 2022, followed by the completion of the new Parliament building in 2023. The Vice-President’s Enclave was also built as per the plan. Work on a new residence and office for the Prime Minister is ongoing.