Renovated Mantralaya floors to be ready by mid-September

MUMBAI: Exactly a year after the top four floors of the imposing Maharashtra secretariat building here were gutted in a major fire, the state government said today it would take another three months for these floors to be ready for occupation.

This is despite a senior minister's claim last year that the work would be completed within six months.

The project cost has also gone up and would be "around Rs 230 crore" when work is completed, a senior official said here today.

"The renovated top four floors would be ready by mid-September," the official said.

The fire on June 21, 2012 left five people dead, apart from causing extensive damage to the six-storey building.

The Rs 138-crore renovation project was started last November. There was a delay of three months as the lowest bid of Rs 168 crore by Unity Infrastructure was much higher than the state's planned expenditure. The firm later quoted Rs 138 crore and bagged the contract.

The new-look secretariat would house a space-frame glass atrium over the central courtyard, grand steps leading to the façade, 14 escalators for public use, an advanced fire-fighting systems, central air-conditioning, dedicated lifts for VIPs and a roof-top garden.

There would be a dedicated lift for exclusive use of the chief minister and the deputy chief minister. The renovated building would also have advanced fire-fighting systems.