Twin towers proposed at ITO as Delhi govt’s new office address

The Delhi chief minister, his cabinet colleagues, and senior bureaucrats in the Delhi government may move into new offices in 30-35 storey twin towers proposed be constructed by 2025 at central Delhi’s ITO, not far from the current seat of the Delhi government at the Players’ Building in Indraprastha Estate, according to government documents and officials aware of the matter.

One tower is proposed to come up at the Vikas Bhawan plot, and the other at the MSO and GST Building plot, on a total 53,603 square metres area at an estimated cost of ₹1,910 crore, the officials said. The buildings will have dedicated stilt and basement parking areas, including electrical charging points for vehicles, they added.

Apart from offices for the chief minister and ministers, the twin towers will have offices for the chief secretary, additional chief secretary, principal secretaries, secretaries and their support staff. The towers will be green buildings and will have state-of-the-art infrastructure, auditoriums with capacity for 2,000, 1,000 and 500 people, seminar rooms and conference halls, libraries, crèche, community halls, canteen, cafeteria, food court, gym and landscaping, according to the tender document, a copy which HT has seen.

One tower is proposed to come up at the Vikas Bhawan plot.
“The Delhi government intends to construct an iconic twin building at ITO comprising 30 to 35 storeys on three plots of land i.e. Vikas Bhawan-1, MSO Building and GST Building, with one tower in Vikas Bhawan-1 and another tower in MSO and GST Building. The work involves architectural planning for the work of the new office building at ITO. The new office building is proposed to be constructed as per the detail and norms of Delhi government,” the tender document, floated by Public Works Department on Monday, said.

The facilities will include Wi-Fi, CCTV cameras, access control, escalators, centralised air conditioning, audio/video systems for conference halls, meeting room, common areas, a sewage treatment plant and facilities for rainwater harvesting. The consultant has to plan maximum utilisation of permissible floor area ratio (FAR) according to Master Plan 2021.

Currently, the chief minister, cabinet ministers, chief secretary and several top Delhi government officials function out of Players’ Building, popularly known as Delhi Secretariat. The Players’ Building was planned and built as a hotel to accommodate players for the 1982 Asian Games, but it was not ready on time. During Sheila Dikshit’s tenure as the chief minister [WHICH YEAR], the secretariat of the Delhi government was shifted to Players’ Building from Civil Lines to provide better facilities to ministers and officers.

The existing Delhi Secretariat, however, does not have the required space to accommodate all the top officials of the Delhi government. Offices of the revenue commissioner, labour commissioner, GST commissioner, education secretary, transport commissioner, excise commissioner, secretary food and civil supplies, and several senior officers are located at different locations outside the Delhi Secretariat.

“Due to their offices being located in different areas, officers end up wasting time in travel and traffic congestion whenever they are required to visit the Secretariat for meetings. Things are more difficult for officers holding charges of multiple departments. They are often required to visit different and often distant places for discharging their duties. If the offices are located in the same building or at least at the same location, officers will save time,” said a senior Delhi government official, who asked not to be named.

A former chief secretary of Delhi, who asked not to be identified, said the integration of offices was necessary for increasing speed and efficiency.

Currently, offices of food and civil supplies, excise department, minority commissioner, public grievance commission and others are located in Vikas Bhawan. The office of the PWD is located in the MSO Building and the department of trade and taxes functions from GST Building.

A PWD official, requesting anonymity, said the consultant will have to prepare architectural and layout plans of the new office building in such a way that a minimum number of existing structures that house various offices of the Delhi government is demolished. “One or two-storey temporary porta-cabins and temporary structures will be added to the existing buildings in these places for accommodating offices that exist in the buildings being demolished,” the official said.

The Delhi government did not comment on the matter.

AK Jain, a former planning commissioner at DDA, said it was a good move to redevelop the government offices because many of them are in a dilapidated condition.

“The new office buildings, however, will significantly increase traffic volume at ITO, which is already congested. The government should pay attention to developing a comprehensive urban design scheme according to MPD 2021. And they should take advantage of mixed land-use which permits 30% of the area to be used for residential activities so that traffic can be reduced,” said Jain.