Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (I/C) for Housing & Urban Affairs while laying the foundation stone of the Redevelopment of Government of India Press, Minto Road has stated that modernisation and upgradation is necessary to keep up with changing times. In this process, the project to modernize the Government of India Press located at Minto Road has been taken up. Smt.Meenakshi Lekhi, MP(Lok Sabha), Shri Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs and senior officers of the Ministry were also present on the occasion. Government of India Press, Minto Road was established in the year 1931 and caters to the printing needs of both houses of the Parliament during session, important Gazette Notifications, Ordinances and Budget related materials. The Press is run in double shift in routine and three shifts during the Parliament sessions.The Press is proposed to be modernized with state of the art technology and machineries after getting it re-developed through CPWD. The sanctioned cost of the total project is Rs. 338.56 crores out of which Rs. 100.00 crores has been earmarked for plant and machineries.
After modernization, the quality of printing will be at par with international standards and the press would be able to do expeditious printing for both the house of Parliament. The capacity shall also increase to 166 crores A5 pages from the current level of 60 crores A5 pages. The multi-colour offset and digital printing would be available on demand.The new building shall have 2 basements and seven upper floors with constructed area of 50,445 sqm. The new press building shall be a modern eco-friendly, centrally air-conditioned building with solar power generation, energy efficient LED fittings, waste water recycling and double glazed windows for thermal comfort.CPWD has planned the construction of the new building in such a way that the press shall remain fully functional during construction time. CPWD has already started the work in EPC mode and the press shall be ready by January, 2020.