Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday laid the foundation stone of a new Assam House here and said the new premises will serve the patients and students of the state.
Sarma said the construction of the new Assam House in Dwarka — the third state guest house in the national capital — will be completed within 18 months.
The new Assam House will cater to the needs of patients and students while the other two will be used by officials, he said at the event.
A large number of patients from Assam visit Delhi regularly for treatment for various ailments while a sizeable number of students belonging to the state also study in the national capital.
The new Assam House will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 21.66 crore on a plot measuring 1,000 square metres and will consist of three basements and ground plus four floors.
It will have one VVIP suite, 18 guest rooms, 13 dormitory beds, one 2 BHK unit and two one BHK units for resident staff.
It will have facilities like a cafeteria, reception and lounge, kitchen, common toilets, car parking, passenger lifts and car lifts, according to an official release by the Assam government.
The old Assam House and the Assam Bhavan are located in Chanakyapuri.
The old Assam House on Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi Marg was reconstructed a few years ago while the Assam Bhavan on Sardar Patel Marg is being demolished and in its place a new one will come up. It's construction will start in June.
The chief minister said the state government has created assets in major metropolitan cities and Assam Houses will come up in Vellore and Bangalore while the existing one in Kolkata is being demolished and a new one will be constructed in its place.
A new Assam House was constructed in Chennai sometime ago.
Sarma said the state government has acquired land in Mumbai for a project to showcase Assam's cultural heritage such as Kamakhya temple, Batadrava than, Rangghar, namghar while it is searching for a suitable plot of land in the national capital for such a project.
He said the days of agitation and protests in Assam are over with the state moving ahead with several infrastructure projects like roads, flyovers and bridges under various stages of construction.
He said the state government has decided to construct 24 medical colleges out of which 12 have been already completed.