In our previous article, we discussed about 7 Reasons Why New Parliament Building is being constructed in India? This blog generated curiosity amongst students and we got requests to polish our next article on Facts of New Parliament Building. So here we are with our new blog on 10 Interesting Facts of New Parliament Building.

The new parliament building is expected to get completed by October 2022 at a cost of around 971 crores. Let’s have a look at 10 interesting facts about New Parliament Building.

1. Eco-friendly construction

New Parliament Building is being constructed on a total area of 64,500 sqm by Tata Projects Limited. Being an eco-friendly building this building is using eco-friendly materials in the construction. There are arrangements for solar power generation as well as rainwater harvesting in New Parliament Building. Further, devices are also planned to be installed in the building to save upto 30% electricity. 

2. Modern facilities on every seat

Apart from saving energy and being eco friendly, the New Parliament Building will have multimedia display at every MP’s seat along with microphones and other facilities.

3. Peacock and lotus flower theme

The theme of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha will be different in the New Parliament House. While the Lok Sabha will have them of National Bird of India – Peacock and the Rajya Sabha will have the theme of National Flower of India – Lotus.

4. Earthquake safety

One of the important reason for constructing the New Parliament Building was that the current building is not designed to withstand earthquakes of high intensity, because Delhi was in Zone 2 when the old Parliament Building was built. The New Parliament Building has been designed to be able to withstand earthquakes, as strong shocks as in Zone 5.

5. No Central Hall

In the present Parliament Building, Central Hall has a sitting capacity of 436 people and whenever a joint session is held around 200 temporary chairs are installed. Making the entire arrangement a bit crowded and messy, moreover in emergency situations, it raises safety and security concerns. In the New Parliament Building, there will not be any Central Hall, but instead, the Lok Sabha Hall will have 1272 seats, which is enough to conduct joint sessions even with the enhanced capacity of both the houses.

6. Seats in Lok Sabha

There will be a seating arrangement of 888 MPs in the Lok Sabha in the new Parliament House. The current Lok Sabha hall has a seating capacity of just 552 MPs. The increased seating capacity of the Lok Sabha hall in the New Parliament Building, will accommodate more MPs.

7. Seats in Rajya Sabha

In the New Parliament Building, the Rajya Sabha will also be larger than before. While the current Rajya Sabha hall has a total strength of 245 seats. In the new Rajya Sabha in the New Parliament Building, there will be a provision of 384 seats. Therefore even if the number of Rajya Sabha MPs increases in the time to come, there will be no shortage of space in the Rajya Sabha House.

8. More committee rooms

In the new Parliament House, the number of committee rooms will be much more. In order to facilitate the smooth functioning of parliamentary committees, there will be an audio-visual system in each committee room.

9. Special facilities for media

There will be special facilities for media as Weill in the new Parliament House. In totality, there will be 530 seats for the media in New Parliament House. Both the houses of Parliament will have galleries for the general public to witness parliamentary proceedings, ensuring a clear view of the house from every seat.

10. Public Parliament House

The idea of the government is to make the new Parliament House a public parliament house. Entry of the elderly, children, as well as disabled will be easier in the New Parliament Building. The two special entrance points will make it easier for the general public to reach the Public Gallery and Central Constitutional Gallery. There will be better fire safety features in the New Parliament Building.