Cost of Prime Minister’s new residence ‘secret’ and cannot be revealed

The grand, new residence for prime minister Narendra Modi, being built by Larsen &Toubro, media reports quoting government officials had stated in 2022, would cost Rs 467 crore. The two-storeyed building would have a floor area of 36,328 square feet. The basement parking area would cover and additional 21,000 square feet. No figures were made available for a ‘nuclear shelter’ speculated to be a part of the plan of the new PMO complex coming up next to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

In 2020 media reports an expert panel of the Ministry of Environment and Forest had revised the estimated cost of the central vista, excluding the PMO complex and PM’s residence, from Rs 11,794 crore to Rs 13,450 crore. Earlier the government had claimed the entire cost of the central vista would be Rs 20,000 crore.

The complex, reports then added, would include a home office, sports facilities, a guesthouse and a complex for high-level meetings. There were plans to have service quarters, staff quarters, the Special Protection Group office, a security office etc. , details of which were not shared with parliament or the public.

The complex is expected to be completed in 2026 although there is no information yet about when the PM will be shifting to his new residence. This year the government had however given a statement in parliament that the total cost of the ‘central vista complex’, of which the new PMO complex and residence will be a part, was likely to exceed estimates. Higher GST, steel prices, new security installations etc. were cited as the reason.

The new complex housing the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), which is in the final stages of completion, will be called ‘Seva Teerth’. The complex was earlier known as the ‘Executive Enclave’ under the Central Vista Redevelopment project. Besides the PMO, the ‘Executive Enclave’ will also comprise of the offices of the Cabinet Secretariat, National Security Council Secretariat, and India House, which will be a venue for high-level talks with visiting dignitaries.

In a report on 20 December, 2025, BBC (Hindi) reported that information sought by it about details of the work done till now under the RTI Act were denied on the ground that this would be detrimental to the security, sovereignty and integrity of the nation. The questions put to the CPWD (Central Public Works Department) forwarded the queries to the Public Information Officers. The response shared in October, 2025 was that the queries were not related to the department but did not disclose which was the ‘competent’ authority. The reply also claimed that information related to the PM’s residence were ‘secret’.

An appeal was filed by the BBC and on 2 December the CPWD replied that the information sought were not ‘clear’; that they belonged to the exempted category and cannot be made public and, finally, that disclosing the information sought would be prejudicial to national interest and may affect friendly relations with foreign countries and international relations.