India

Cabinet Grants ₹3,230 Crore for New Delhi Museum Project

By Soumya Chatterjee

The Union Cabinet approved ₹3,230 crore on Wednesday for the development of the Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum, which will occupy the North Block and South Block of New Delhi’s Central Vista. The museum will display India’s civilisational history over 10,000 years in the two nearly century‑old buildings that previously housed the Union government. Completion is targeted for March 2031.

In September, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) invited bids for a ₹735 crore civil‑works package to convert the buildings into a museum covering about 1.92 million square feet. The redevelopment plans include visitor pavilions, conservation facilities, intermediate floors and public circulation areas. Design features such as glass‑covered courtyards, glass ‘Peacock Pavilions’ at visitor entrances, and an underground service tunnel will connect the two buildings for the movement of artworks, equipment and utilities. The tender required that any interventions in the heritage structures be sensitive, minimal and reversible, with new additions designed to avoid adding load to the historic masonry.

The project follows the relocation of government offices from the two buildings as part of the Central Vista redevelopment. In February, the new executive enclave, Seva Teerth, began functioning, housing the Prime Minister’s Office, Cabinet Secretariat and National Security Council Secretariat. In April 2025, CPWD floated a ₹338 crore tender for renovating and repurposing North Block, covering 76,196 square metres in North Block and 7,200 square metres in the adjoining service block, including structural repairs, waterproofing, restoration, stonework and drainage upgrades.

India signed an agreement with France Museums Développement in December 2024 for technical cooperation in developing the museum, bringing in expertise in heritage conservation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings.