On Thursday, two new office complexes for the Defence Ministry staff were officially handed over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Soon around 7,000 employees of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will move out of the barracks behind South Block and go to the new office complexes located at Kasturba Gandhi Marg and Africa Avenue. These hutments which were vacated once upon a time used to be used as stables for horses of the British Army. And from the time of Independence till date were used as offices for 27 different organizations related to the Ministry of Defence, service headquarters , Armed Forces Clinic, a medical wing of the forces and other offices.

What will happen to the space vacated?

According to sources the space which will get vacated shortly by the Defence Ministry is going to be redeveloped for the new residence of the Prime Minister of the country as well as other related offices. This will be done under the new Central Vista Redevelopment project.

As reported, the eight storey new office complex at KG Marg that was dedicated by the Prime Minister today has three blocks (A, B & C). This new complex will hold 14 offices of the Ministry, with a built up area of 4.52 lakh sq ft as well as offices of Shram Shakti Bhavan and Praivahan Bhawan. Another seven-storey complex located at Africa Avenue has four blocks (A,B,C&D) and will hold only 13 MoD offices over a built up area of 5.08 lakh sq ft.

The buildings constructed at a cost of Rs 775 crore have been designed in such a manner that the existing trees were not damaged. The construction was done by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the cost has been taken care of by the Ministry of Defence. There is also a provision for multi-level 1500 car parking in these complexes.

These buildings are green buildings and are eco friendly with modern amenities, canteens, banks etc. The total space in these buildings adds up to around 9.60 lakh Sq ft as against 9.22 Lakh sq ft which will be vacated over the next two months. And 37 acres of land has been released after the offices were relocated to the new buildings.

The Central Vista plan also includes the relocation of the Vice President’s residence behind North Block and additional ten new buildings for government offices – Nirman Bhavan, Udyog Bhavan, Vayu Bhavan, Krishi Bhavan and Shastri Bhavan.