Kartavya Path was designed as a grand ceremonial approach to the Viceroy’s House and an iconic symbol of the British Raj. Inspired by Washington’s National Mall and Paris’s Avenue de Champs-Elysées, the Avenue comprised a 3 km long tree-lined stretch from the Viceroy’s House to the All-India War Memorial, flanked by lawns, formal gardens and water channels. It was designed using classic city planning instruments, with a strong axis (from the ridge of Raisina Hill towards the Jamuna river), an emphasised focal point, formation of important nodes, and a definitive termination point.

At Independence, along with the buildings, the streets were also renamed: King’s Way became Rajpath and now known as Kartavya Path, and Queen’s Way became Janpath. The Viceroy’s House became Rashtrapati Bhavan and the All India War Memorial became India Gate, now magnificent icons of the Republic of India.

Several modifications were made to the Kartavya Path (previously known as Rajpath) after independence. An additional cross street (Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg) and node was added, to cater to the increasing city traffic by improving north-south connectivity. The landscape also started getting altered, with a new row of trees added in the 1980’s. These changes also had an impact on the water channels and formal gardens of the original design.

Despite the changes, Kartavya Path continues to retain its basic character and serves many important functions even today. It is the setting for the annual Republic Day parade, a setting for national and public events, a precious civic garden for the city and an important tourist attraction.

The formal gardens and lawns were never planned for heavy public use and have now become increasingly stressed and uncomfortable to use. The Republic Day arrangements can be better planned and provided for, so as to cause less disruption to public movement and less damage to the landscape every year. The facilities for civic users, including pathways and street furniture, need refurbishment. The objective of the redevelopment of Kartavya Path is to make the area an icon that truly befits India’s administrative capital. It intends to achieve this by refurbishing, strengthening and restoring the landscape and tree cover; providing amenities that make it comfortable for civic users and tourists to use; and making it more pedestrian-friendly and easier for traffic to negotiate. The design also provides space and facilities for vendors, ensures that arrangements for national events cause minimal disruption, and ensures integrity and continuity of the original layout, its geometries and its architectural character. The refurbishment of Kartavya Path will increase usable public space and enhance the quality and experience for tourists and local residents.

The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) is a premier arts centre and an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Culture. In 1986, an international design competition was held where American architect Ralph Lerner’s design for the Building Complex was chosen out of 190 entries from 37 countries. The prize-winning design comprised of the following buildings: Kala Nidhi (Reference Library), Kala Kosha (Research Wing), Sutradhara (Administration), Janapada Sampada (Tribal and Folk Art Centre), Exhibition Galleries, Residential Block, Indian Theatre (seating capacity 400), National Theatre (seating capacity 1,200), and Concert Hall (seating capacity 2,000). Of these, only the Library building was built - the rest of the Master Plan was never realised.

The building that currently houses the institution was originally designed as the IGNCA library. All of the institute’s departments are shoehorned into this building. Not being designed for this purpose, the spaces are not adequate for the varied requirements of each department.

The present building needs modern infrastructure and better service integration to cater to many needs of technology and equipment-supported spaces for the Institute such as its laboratories archival rooms, special storage for archival material, documents, manuscripts, valuable art, etc. The Institute also needs comfortable workspaces, organised storage and safe electrical services. The slabs and roof of the present building are affected due to water ingress and there have been several additions and alterations for services over the years. The IGNCA needs an expanded and purpose-built facility in order to grow and flourish.

The IGNCA has been temporarily relocated to refurbished Janpath Hotel. This will have better facilities than the present IGNCA. A new purpose-built IGNCA will be constructed on the Jamnagar House plot in the C-Hexagon, opposite Hyderabad House.

The new buildings will have modern and sustainable facilities, equipped with upgradeable infrastructure that will support the Institute’s vision. In addition to facilities for public gatherings, exhibitions, and concerts, it will provide for the administrative and educational requirements of the Institute as well.

The documents, artefacts and collections from the IGNCA has been catalogued and carefully relocated to the Janpath Hotel, as a secure temporary holding facility. Janpath Hotel will continue to function as the temporary home for IGNCA till the new building is completed in the Jamnagar House plot, opposite Hyderabad House. Then, these collections will be carefully relocated to upgraded, purpose-built facilities in the new IGNCA building.

The National Museum will be relocated to the magnificent North and South Blocks, reconceptualized to present the rich heritage and achievements of the nation in a modern and engaging manner. This powerful gesture, of handing the Raisina hill back to the people, demonstrates our nation’s confidence in our vibrant democracy, and puts people at its heart.

At present, the North and South Blocks house the most important ministries of the Government of India, and have been subject to several additions and modifications over the years for technological and service upgrades. After their present functions are relocated to the new Common Central Secretariat buildings, these Grade-I heritage buildings will be appropriately retrofitted and refurbished, and upgraded to world-class facilities to serve as the National Museum.

The central plaza between the two blocks will be a space for installations, where programmed performances, public activities and sensitive place-making will allow citizens and tourists to engage with the splendours of this complex, even after museum hours.

The National Archives of India (NAI) is the largest archival repository in South Asia, housing lakhs of documents of immense value to our national heritage. The archives were first housed in a building designed by Lutyens, which was completed in 1926. This historic building has subsequently been extended to add space and modified to add services. The present set of buildings do not have the facilities or infrastructure that are essential for an institute that is the custodian of our national heritage. To address this, and to support the goals of the institution, a new purpose-designed facility will be built alongside the present historic building. The heritage building will be appropriately retrofitted and refurbished, and will continue to serve the National Archives of India. This project will also be taken up in consultation and with participation of Ministry of Culture. These would be state-of-the-art in terms of display and facilities for public viewing.

All documents, manuscripts and artefacts currently housed in the NAI buildings will be itemised, reorganized systematically and safely in the heritage and new buildings to benchmark that with the best in the world.

The New India Garden is proposed near the River Yamuna. thereby extending the present Central Vista axis by 2.24 km to realise the vision of ‘Ridge to River’. The Garden will be linked to the Vista by a special pedestrian path that will go past the Purana Qila. The Garden will feature plantation of 2,022 number of trees across 75 varieties of species. Spread over 25 acres, the project will be open to the public and is being designed to have an Iconic Structure, Sphere of Unity, Milestones Walkway, Journey of India, Tech Dome and other infotainment facilities, designed to showcase India’s rich historical and cultural heritage, scientific achievements and symbolize Unity in Diversity and aspirations of rising New India. Futuristic features like Tech Dome (with 3D Screens and Interactive Panels) and History Corridor/Experience Zones are being planned to showcase the significant achievements in various fields through Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual/Augmented Reality (VR/AR). This will enhance interest and educate the visitors, especially children and youth, by providing a unique experience of India’s journey starting from history to the present. A time bound iconic structure challenge was launched on 27 July, 2021 to crowdsource implementable ideas for the architectural and structural design of the iconic structure. The competition is open to Indian citizens/Overseas Citizen of India(OCI), including architecture firms, students, schools, colleges and other institutions across India. Kindly visit https://cpwd.gov.in/designcom/Home.aspx for further details on Iconic Structure Challenge.

A publicly accessible National Biodiversity Arboretum is proposed in the President's Estate. The National Biodiversity Arboretum will be India’s first biodiversity park, designed to protect and conserve around one thousand endangered plant species and microcosms of the country. It will be an important site for scientists, environmentalists, researchers, and students to document and study the nation’s myriad flora. It will also showcase the nation’s ecological diversity, and will be an important public space within the Central Vista.

The size of this park will be around 50 acres. It is planned to be developed in the President’s Estate towards Mother Teresa Crescent Road. This will extend the Central Vista by 0.93 km to the ridge. The arboretum will not only be a striking landscape but a scientific treasure trove, vital to India’s botanical and conservation research