Lok Sabha
Speaker Om Birla on Saturday said the foundation stone for a new Parliament
building will be laid on December 10 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This new
building will cover 64,500 square metres of area and it will take around Rs 971
crore to build, he added.

“The existing temple
of democracy is completing 100 years… It is a matter of pride for our
countrymen that the new one will be built by our own people as a prime example
of Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” Birla said.

“The new building
will showcase the cultural diversity of the country. Hopefully, in the 75th
year of independence, Parliament session will be held in the new
building,” he said.

The new building will have
a seating capacity of 888 members in Lok Sabha andd 384 members in Rajya Sabha.
It will be also an earthquake resistant building.

The previous Parliamnet
building will be preserved as a heritage of the country, he added.

According to the rules,
the Lok Sabha speaker is also the guardian of the parliament building. An official
invitation was sent to PMO by the speaker. Birla also said, all other political
parties will also be invited for the stone laying ceremony. However, keeping
pandemic in mind, only few will take part physically and the rest will take
part virtually. Whosoever will attend have to maintain all COVID-19 guidelines.

A new office complex is
also going to be constructed for all the MPs of both the houses at the site of
the existing Shram Shakti Bhawan. This new office will have all the latest
digital interfaces, a step forward to paperless office. The new Parliament will
also include a grand Constitution hall, a library, dining areas, parking lot,
multiple committee rooms and many more.

All the steps to manage
air and noise pollution will be adapted in the building of the new parliament.

Tata Projects Limited,
this year in September won the tender to take charge of constructing the new
parliament building.