No, TATA did not build new Parliament House in 17 months just for ₹1

Social media is rife with posts claiming that the Tata Group has built the new Parliament house in just 17 months and that the Indian multinational conglomerate has charged only 1 rupee from the government for the construction. Social media users shared this claim with pictures of PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the new Parliament building on March 28.

Social media user @anandathirtharb shared a post with the caption, “New Parliament House. Two new records. It was built in merely 17 months. TATA built it and only 1 rupee as a cost to the govt. This is TATA‘s gift to nation.” (Archive)

New Parliament House
Two new records
It was built in merely 17 months 💪🏻👌🏻
TATA bulit it and only 1 rupee as a cost to the govt.
This is TATA‘s gift to nation..@RNTata2000 ji 🙇🏻🙏🏻#Parliament #NewParliamentBuilding #ModiHaiToMumkinHai #Modi4PM2024 pic.twitter.com/kCwB7wcR1S

— AnandaThirtha (@anandathirtharb) April 5, 2023

Another Twitter user, @SHIVRAMVAIDYA, made the same claim and said the Parliament house was TATA‘s gift to the nation. (Archive)

New Parliament House
Two new records
It was built in merely 17 months
TATA bulit it and only 1 rupee as a cost to the govt.
This is TATA ‘s gift to nation.

Proud being a part of TATA GROUP 🤘

Jai Hind Vande Matram pic.twitter.com/PW4qbK0ksS

— SHIVRAM VAIDYA (@SHIVRAMVAIDYA) April 4, 2023

The post is also shared on Facebook. Facebook user Vivek Joshi claimed that it was built in 17 months, though he said that “TATA built it for Rs. 862 Cr.” (Archive)

Fact Check

On doing a keyword search on Google, Alt News came across several news reports of the construction cost of the new Parliament House. According to a report by The Economic Times, TATA Projects won the contract for the construction of the new Parliament by outbidding L&T in 2020. The TATA Group company had initially offered to execute the project for Rs 861.9 crore, only Rs 3.1 crore less than L&T’s bid of Rs 865 crore. Hence the claim that TATA has charged only Rs. 1 to the government for the construction of the new Parliament building is false.

However, according to an NDTV report, the total cost of the new Parliament building had sky-rocketed by 29% to ₹1250 crores in 2022. The new Parliament House, which is the highlight of the government’s flagship Central Vista project, was initially expected to be finished before the country’s 75th Independence Day in 2022.

 

Other media outlets have also reported on the issue. A screenshot of the news reports is attached below.

 

 

As per the government website on the Central Vista project, a gross amount of ₹20,000 crores has been estimated for the development and redevelopment works which include the new Parliament House and other blocks.

However, the website mentions that “Till date, only 2 projects of New Parliament Building with tendered cost ₹862 crores and Redevelopment of Central Vista Avenue with tendered cost ₹477 crores have been awarded and works are underway.” The government is yet to update the website with the revised version of the increase in the construction costs of the building.

As per a report published by the Press Information Bureau, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the project in December 2020 and the construction began in January 2021. In January 2023, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla informed the President that the new Parliament building was still under construction. This confirms that the construction work exceeded the “17-month” mark stated in the viral claim.

The New Parliament Building is still under construction. During Budget Session, the Hon’ble President will address Members of two Houses in the existing Parliament House Building.

— Om Birla (@ombirlakota) January 20, 2023

The central vista website confirms that construction is still underway. The project of the new Parliament building is listed as an “active project” implying that the construction is still going on.

Alt News reached out to TATA Projects regarding the claim. Replying to our query via email, TATA Projects said the viral claim was a rumour.

To sum it up, several viral posts on social media falsely claimed that the TATA Group had built the new Parliament building within 17 months and that the MNC had charged only Rs. 1 from the government as construction cost. However, upon fact-checking, it was revealed that TATA Projects has charged over ₹1250 crores for the construction of the new building to date. Besides, the construction which began in January 2021 is still underway and it has crossed the “17 months” period mentioned in the viral claims.

Abira Das is an intern with Alt News.