Rashtrapati Bhavan to get a makeover ahead of G20 Summit, says Delhi news.

Rashtrapati Bhavan to undergo sprucing up ahead of G20 leaders’ summit

Rashtrapati Bhavan is set to be spruced up with a fresh coat of paint, dry-cleaning of woollen carpets and silk curtains, chemical treatment of the sandstone facade, and replacement of the kerbstones outside, just in time for the scheduled visits of heads of state during the G20 leaders’ summit in September.

Maintenance works for official visits of Head of States of G20 countries

With just about a month to go for the summit on September 9-10, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) on August 5 invited bidders for “Miscellaneous maintenance works in relation to official visits of Head of States of G20 countries”, at an estimated cost of Rs.71.53 lakh. The CPWD will open bids on Tuesday and the work is to be executed within 25 days.

Beautification measures for Rashtrapati Bhavan

The list of beautifying measures includes painting walls with luxury emulsion paint, applying anti-fungal wash treatment on the heritage building as approved by the Archaeological Survey of India, and stain removal of silk and velvet curtains.

Urgency of the maintenance work

The CPWD said in the tender document that the “work is of very urgent nature” and failure to complete the work in 25 days would result in the contractor being barred from participating in future tenders. However, a CPWD official clarified that the nature of the work was “routine maintenance” and not major. Regular maintenance is carried out at Rashtrapati Bhavan since it is visited by foreign dignitaries several times a year.

G20 leaders’ summit and venue

The two-day summit is set to be held at the recently-inaugurated Bharat Mandapam convention centre at Pragati Maidan, with the heads of states scheduled to visit Rashtrapati Bhavan. In February, the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting was supposed to take place at the convention centre, but it was held at the cultural centre within the Rashtrapati Bhavan complex due to the centre not being ready at that time.

Summary:

• Rashtrapati Bhavan is undergoing maintenance work including painting, dry-cleaning, and chemical treatment ahead of the G20 leaders’ summit in September.
• Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has invited bids for the maintenance work, estimated to cost Rs.71.53 lakh.
• The work is to be executed within 25 days and includes painting walls, applying anti-fungal treatment, and stain removal of curtains.
• The CPWD has emphasized the urgent nature of the work and failure to complete it would result in contractors being barred from future tenders.
• The G20 leaders’ summit will be held at the Bharat Mandapam convention centre and the heads of states will visit Rashtrapati Bhavan.