The new headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan (JNB) here is not spacious enough to accommodate all its offices, said Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
The minister said that the government had spent around `220 crore for construction and furnishing of the building.
When asked if any responsibility had been fixed for putting up the building, Ahamed said that the terms and conditions at the time of allotment of the prime plot “imposed restrictions on the construction plans of the ministry”. He said that the conditions included restriction on floor area and height.
A large number of divisions of the MEA including senior officers have moved to JNB from South Block. According to sources, there are still some rooms left at JNB.
These include the rooms of the ministers of state, who were scheduled to shift base from south Block.