Army chief visits Thal Sena Bhawan construction site; complex to be completed by Jun 2025

New Delhi: Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande visited the site of construction of the upcoming Thal Sena Bhawan -- the new building of the Army headquarters -- at Delhi cantonment on Wednesday to oversee the progress of the complex scheduled to be completed by June 2025.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh laid the foundation stone of the complex in February 2020.

Thal Sena Bhawan, a cornerstone project aimed at modernising infrastructure for the Indian Army, has been under construction since March 2023, officials said.

The Army chief was updated on the state of the construction which is "progressing as per schedule and in adherence to the highest engineering standards", a senior official said.

Various green initiatives and the best engineering practices which have been adopted in the project were highlighted during the visit. These include transplantation of 476 fully grown trees, compensatory plantation of 5,790 trees to increase green cover, and use of environment-friendly construction material such as fly ash bricks, ashcrete cement, recycled wood, and peri formwork, the officials said.

The Thal Sena Bhawan aims to be a net-zero building as it will have its own compost plant, sewage treatment plant, solar panels and electric vehicle charging facilities to promote clean energy, they said.

The Army chief also inaugurated a state-of-the-art living barrack for troops at the Army HQ Camp at Delhi Cantonment.

The barrack has a capacity of 400 beds and was constructed with the latest light gauge steel frame technology through which speedy and sturdy construction has been undertaken. The building was completed in "record time of one year".

It has state-of-the-art amenities for all weather conditions, including a central cooling system, and is equipped with modern technologies such as CCTV cameras and biometric attendance systems.

Gen Pande expressed satisfaction with both projects.

These endeavours underscore the Indian Army's unwavering resolve to modernise infrastructure, prioritise sustainability and improve the quality of life for its personnel, the officials said.

The eight-storey state-of-the-art structure of the Army headquarters' new building will "complement" the overall Central Vista redevelopment project, and its architectural design draws inspiration from the official emblem of the Army, senior officials said in April 2023.

The work is due to finish in 27 months at an approximate cost of Rs 760 crore, a top Army official had earlier said.

The starting of the construction work got delayed after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, sources had said, adding the building will be a green structure and fully quake-resistant and "will be built to last 100 years".