Located in the heart of Lutyens Delhi on a 2 acre plot, the National Media centre which was inaugurated on Saturday, will now serve as the official press briefing centre for the government.
The five storeyed building, located adjacent to Le Meridian in New Delhi will also serve as the office for the Press Information Bureau, an agency primarily looking at disseminating information from the government.
The project, envisaged in 1989 and completed nearly 24 years later, was built on a budget of Rs 60 crore and is equipped with state of the art technology including optic fibre internet and a mini data centre for hosting live webcast.
At a time when a number of junior ministers of the union cabinet have been actively pursuing the new media including web casts to speak to the public, the office will certainly be an ideal location, a senior official in the Information &Broadcasting ministry said.
In addition, the media centre also boasts of a press conference hall which can accommodate more than 280 media persons and a briefing room for 60 persons. The centre is Wi-Fi enabled and currently has 24 work stations to quickly deliver news in today’s fast paced digital era. The press Information Bureau is also planning to move all its archives into the new facility.
Located in close proximity to the parliament and all other central government offices in New Delhi, this facility is also expected to serve as the official media briefing centre for visiting dignitaries too.
