US breaks ground on new embassy in Delhi

F.P. Report

NEW DELHI: Highlighting the deepening ties of friendship that undergird the U.S.-India Comprehe-nsive Global Strategic Pa-rtnership, U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of India Kenneth I. Juster, the Gov-ernment of India’s Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, broke ground on Friday, for a new chancery building for the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.

The new design will provide a secure and resilient platform for U.S. diplomacy in New Delhi. WEISS/ MANFREDI Architecture/ Landscape/Urbanism of New York is the architect and B.L. Harbert Internat-ional of Birmingham, Ala-bama, is the general contractor. The Bureau of Ov-erseas Buildings Opera-tions (OBO) anticipates co-mpletion in the fall of 2027. As a result of this pr-oject, an estimated $200 m-illion will be invested in the local economy and an estimated 800 Indian workers will be employed at the pe-ak of construction activities.

The U.S. Embassy will remain on the existing 28-acre site in New Delhi’s diplomatic enclave — the Chanakyapuri neighborhood — next to the original, Edward Durrell Stone-designed chancery building listed on the Secretary’s Register of Culturally Significant Properties.

The new multi-building campus will bridge the past and the present while providing a modern chancery and office annex, staff residences, and support facilities. The initial construction phase includes the new buildings and a water-efficient, weather-resilient landscape. Future plans include a renovation of the original chancery building.

This project will provide a secure, functional, sustainable, and resilient platform for U.S. diplomacy in India. Since the start of the Department’s Capital Security Construction Program in 1999, OBO has completed 164 new diplomatic facilities. OBO currently has more than 50 active projects either in the design phase or under construction worldwide.