Now Reading: Shastri Bhawan, Krishi Bhawan to be vacated by September for new blocks
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Shastri Bhawan, Krishi Bhawan to be vacated by September for new blocks
Shastri Bhawan, Krishi Bhawan to be vacated by September for new blocks
The Central Public Works Department has ordered government departments to vacate Shastri Bhawan and Krishi Bhawan by the end of September 2026, clearing the site for Kartavya Bhawans 4 and 5 under…
The Central Public Works Department has ordered government departments to vacate Shastri Bhawan and Krishi Bhawan by the end of September 2026, clearing the site for Kartavya Bhawans 4 and 5 under the Central Vista redevelopment. The two buildings, built between the 1950s and 1960s, have housed ministries including agriculture, education, and petroleum for decades. CPWD's September 16 communication said the new complexes will rise on the same footprint, requiring immediate handover to the executing agency.
The tender for the project was re-tendered in June at Rs 3,155.41 crore, nearly five percent higher than the January estimate of Rs 3,006.07 crore. Officials attributed the increase to design modifications that converted common areas into usable office space and the use of costlier construction technology aimed at completing the seven-storey buildings in two years. The first three Kartavya Bhawans were inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August this year at a sanctioned cost of Rs 3,690 crore.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The three sources report the same CPWD directive with near-identical facts, vacation by September end, tender cost of Rs 3,155.41 crore, and replacement by Kartavya Bhawans 4 and 5. India Today alone mentions that the tender has been awarded, a concrete step Hindustan Times and India TV omit. No outlet carries opposition or expert critique of cost escalation or heritage loss. The uniformly straight-reporting coverage means the government's timeline and rationale go unchallenged. The substantive item to track is whether the September 2026 handover deadline holds and whether the project completes within the stated two-year construction window.
Coverage: 3 sources, 3 neutral
Sources (3): hindustantimes.com (neutral report), indiatoday.in (neutral report), indiatvnews.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry.
Updated: this story now draws on 3 sources.
