By Pramod Thomas
TATA-group company is all set to build India's new parliament building worth £90m, which will replace the existing colonial-era complex by 2022.
Tata Projects has won the bid to build the complex in the heart of the national capital, Delhi.
The country targets to open the new building when India celebrates 75 years of independence in two years.
Many object the move saying that the money should be spent on fighting Covid-19 in the country.
India reported another record jump in daily coronavirus infections with 97,894 cases in the last 24 hours, data from the health ministry showed on Thursday(17).
With 5.12 million cases in all, India is the world's second-worst affected country, and trails only the US, which has a caseload of around 6.6 million.
The country has also reported more than 80,000 deaths from the virus so far.
According to the Indian government, a new building is a necessity as the current one dates back to the 1920s and is 'over-used'.
Reports said that the proposed building will be larger than the current one, and will have seating for 1,400 MPs.
It will be a three-storey triangular structure, and is part of a $2.7bn government plan to modernise old colonial government buildings in Delhi.
The demand for a new parliament building dates back to nearly a decade with successive speakers of the parliament supporting the need for a new parliament building.
British architect Herbert Baker built the existing circular parliament building with a large domed hall and finished it in 1927.
Headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, Tata Group is one of the biggest and oldest industrial groups in India, founded in 1868.
Each Tata company, including Tata Projects, operates independently under the guidance and supervision of its own board of directors and shareholders.
