Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the new Defence Ministry office complex in Delhi on Thursday, September 16, 2021. The two locations are Kasturba Gandhi Marg and Africa Avenue and the event will take place at 11am. The Defence Ministry office, which houses close to 7,000 employees, and many other organisations are set to shift to two new complexes on Africa Avenue and Kasturba Gandhi Marg.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), PM Modi will visit the defence office complex at Africa Avenue and interact with Army, Navy, Air Force and Civilian Officers. This will be followed by his address to the gathering. The inaugural event will be attended by the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, MoS Defence Ajay Bhatt, MoS Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Mukund Naravane, Chief of the Naval Staff — Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of the Air Staff –Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria. The move was prompted after the existing Defence Ministry at Dalhousie Road near South Block was shifted as the space was needed for the Prime Minister’s new residence and office as part of the Central Vista Redevelopment project. The Defence Ministry shifting is expected to vacate 50 acres of land. The buildings will provide modern, secure and functional working spaces. The buildings utilise resource efficient green technology and promote environment friendly practices, it further read. The offices have been built for relocating civilian and military officers whose offices need to be reconstructed due to the construction of the central vista complex coming up in the heart of the centre of power, the agency said.
The plan also includes the relocation of the Vice President’s new residence behind North Block and 10 new building blocks to accommodate government offices, including Shastri Bhavan, Nirman Bhavan, Udyog Bhavan, Krishi Bhavan and Vayu Bhavan.
