New building of Karnataka Bhavan sees third cost escalation in 4 years

The new building of the new Karnataka Bhavan, which is under construction here, has witnessed cost escalation for the third time in the last four years.

The state government is building the new Karnataka Bhavan ‘Kaveri’ at Chanakyapuri, in the upmarket Diplomatic Enclave.

The then chief minister H D Kumaraswamy had, in January 2019, first approved the building plan.

Though the original cost of the building was Rs 60 crore, it was raised to Rs 81 crore and Kumarawamy laid the foundation stone for it in March 2019.

Since the construction work was not started, the then Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa headed BJP Government again laid foundation stone for the second time in September 2020. The BJP Government also jacked up the cost of the building to Rs 120 crore and started the construction.

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A couple of days ago, the Siddaramaiah government again hiked the construction cost by Rs 20 crore. With this, the total cost of the building will be Rs 140 crore.

Defending the latest cost escalation, Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi said on Tuesday that the revision was required due to some minor changes in the building
plan.

Since 60% the work is already completed, it is expected to finish by December this year, the minister said.

A decision to build a new Bhavan after demolishing the 50-year-old building was taken as the old Karnataka Bhavan was declared unsafe by the New Delhi Municipal Corporation.

The new building will have exclusive suites for the Karnataka governor, chief minister, Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court and other VVIPs.