Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Claim
Tata builds new Parliament in 17 months and at a cost of just ₹1 to the government
Fact
Tata Projects won the contract to build new Parliament building with a ₹861.90-crore bid, construction is still going on after it started from January 2021
A post, claiming that the upcoming new Parliament house was built in merely 17 months by Tata at a cost of just ₹1 to the government, is doing the rounds of social media and Whatsapp. Several social media users are hailing the “record feats” as Tata’s gift to the nation. The viral posts come on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the new Parliament building, where he spent over an hour inspecting the site and interacting with workers.
The archived versions of the tweets can be seen here and here.
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Fact check
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Tata parliament building ₹1”, which did not throw up any credible news reports. We, however, came across multiple news reports of how Tata Projects, in September 2020, won the contract to construct a new Parliament building at a cost of ₹861.90 crore.
The new Parliament building will be constructed close to the existing one under PM Modi’s ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project, according to a Mint report. Similar reports confirming Tata’s winning bid of ₹861.90 crore can be seen here and here.
We then came across other news reports, such as this NDTV one published in January 2022, stating that the new parliament building will cost another ₹282 crore —a 29% hike over the budgeted cost of ₹977 crore, totaling to ₹1,250 cr. Similar reports on the increase in cost can be seen here and here, confirming that Tata Projects was not building the new parliament building at a cost of ₹1 to the Central government.
The government website on the Central Vista project, too, confirms that the tendered cost of the new Parliament building is ₹862 crore, while also stating that expenditure incurred on the Parliament building and Central Vista avenue till March 2021 is ₹195 crore.
Was the new Parliament building built in just 17 months?
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “new Parliament construction duration”, which led us to this Indian Express report, dated January 23, 2023, which stated that the construction activity will continue well into the summer.
“Construction of the triangular-shaped new Parliament building in a plot adjacent to the existing Parliament House began in January 2021, with the deadline of November 2022 announced by the government,” read the report. We learnt that the foundation stone of the new Parliament building was laid by PM Modi in December 2020. Newschecker also came across reports, seen here and here, on PM Modi’s surprise visit to the new Parliament building last week, where construction work is in its final stages. According to a Times of India report, the project was initially targeted for completion in November last year. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of the project in December 2020 and the construction began in January 2021,” read the report, confirming that the construction work has exceeded the “17-month” mark stated in the viral claim. The official website, too, confirmed the foundation stone was laid in December 2020.
We have reached out to Tata Projects and will update this article once we receive a response.
Conclusion
Viral post falsely claims that Tata is building the new Parliament building at a cost of just ₹1 to the government and construction was completed in 17 months. Newschecker learnt that Tata Projects won the contract to build a new Parliament building with a ₹861.90-crore bid, while construction is still going on after it started from January 2021.
Result: False
Sources
Mint report, September 16, 2020
Economic Times report, September 17, 2020
Centralvista.gov.in
Indian Express report, January 23, 2023
Times of India report, January 10, 2023
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
