Shastri, Krishi Bhawan to be vacated by Sept end to make way for new Kartavya Bhawan

The two buildings, constructed during the post-Independence expansion of the Central Secretariat in the 1950s and 1960s, were built to accommodate the Union government’s expanding administrative machinery beyond the original North and South Blocks. They are now set to make way for the next phase of the Central Secretariat redevelopment.

HT had earlier reported that the tender for construction of KB-4 and KB-5 was first floated in January 2026, but was re-tendered in June at a cost nearly 5% higher than the original estimate.

The current tender pegs the cost of the project at ₹3,155.41 crore, compared with ₹3,006.07 crore in the tender floated in January. The increase of ₹149.34 crore amounts to nearly 4.97%. The revised tender expands the total combined footprint of Common Central Secretariat (CCS) 4 and CCS-5 by 115 square metres.