Indian PM's office to shift for the first time in 78 years

India's Prime Minister's Office (PMO), currently located in the South Block of the Secretariat Building in New Delhi, is set to shift soon, NDTV said, citing sources in the government.

It is likely that the office will be moved to Executive Enclave, a few hundred metres away, next month (September).

The Executive Enclave has been readied to house the PMO and other top government offices under the Central Vista project. Besides the PMO, the Executive Enclave has the Cabinet Secretariat, National Security Council Secretariat and a conferencing facility. The new PMO is also closer to the Prime Minister's residence.

The need for the construction of new office buildings was primarily due to space constraints. The old buildings did not have modern facilities. It was felt that the Indian government needed new buildings in sync with its image as an emerging economic power.

Earlier, the ministries of Home Affairs and Personnel were shifted to Kartavya Bhavan-3, which the Prime Minister inaugurated this month. In his address after inaugurating the building, the Prime Minister said India's administrative machinery had been operating from buildings constructed during the British colonial era. 

The Indian PM spoke about the poor working conditions in these old buildings, which lack adequate space, lighting, and ventilation. He also said it is difficult to imagine how an important ministry like the Ministry of Home Affairs functioned for nearly 100 years from a single building with insufficient infrastructure.