The Culture Ministry on Thursday inaugurated the new premises of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) at the refurbished Janpath Hotel, where it was expected to stay till at least 2023 while its permanent campus was constructed.
The IGNCA was shifted from its existing premises on Janpath as part of the Central Vista redevelopment project as three of the 10 new Central Secretariat buildings are proposed to be built at the site.
Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel and Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri participated in a pared-down inaugural ceremony due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Mr. Puri said the Janpath Hotel, which was refurbished by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), would be the temporary home for IGNCA till its new “world class complex” is constructed by 2023 at Jamnagar House. Mr. Puri said IGNCA member secretary Sachidanand Joshi informed him that the centre would be opened to the general public ‘soon’.
CPWD director general Vinit Kumar Jayaswal said the IGNCA had faced difficulties in carrying out its activities due to lack of space.
Mr. Puri said the IGNCA had already found a “more welcoming and much broader space for its activities”, but that this was the first step. He said when the IGNCA is finally shifted to its permanent location at Jamnagar House, it “will be a world class facility”.
