Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday laid the foundation stone of Vanijya Bhawan, a new office complex for the Commerce Department that will cost around Rs 226 crore.

Speaking after laying the foundation stone of a office complex of the Ministry of Commerce in New Delhi, PM Modi said his government has in four years taken steps to ease the process of doing business in India while maintaining macroeconomic indicators like current account deficit (CAD) within limits.

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He also spoke of targeting double-digit GDP growth for breaking into the USD 5-trillion economy club and said India’s share in world trade has to be doubled to 3.4 per cent.

He said GDP growth touched 7.7 per cent in the last quarter of 2017-18 fiscal but now the time has come to look beyond 7-8 per cent growth and target double-digit expansion.

The world, he said, is watching as to when India will break into the USD 5 trillion economy club by doubling its economy.

Also, the government is targeting doubling India’s share in world trade to 3.4 per cent, he said, stressing on reducing dependence on imports in sectors like oil through domestic manufacturing.

Located near India Gate, the new complex is being built on a plot of 4.33 acres, belonging to erstwhile Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D), at the junction of Akbar and Man Singh Roads.

The building with an area of 19233.745 square metres will accommodate about 1,000 officers and staff. Retaining the Central Vista architecture, the Vanijya Bhawan will have all modern technology driven features.

The bhawan will be a completely paperless office with state of the art facilities such as smart access control, central air-conditioning, video conferencing, and completely networked systems. The building is also significantly a green building with all required certifications.

The layout of the building has been planned so as to minimise felling of trees. More than 56 per cent of the 214 trees on the plot are either being left untouched or are being replanted on the same plot. As per reports, 230 saplings are also being planted on the same plot, thereby ensuring that tree cover on the site would increase after construction of the new building.

The Department of Commerce is currently housed in Udyog Bhawan which also houses a large number of other government of India departments. A few of its attached and subordinate offices like the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) and Government e-Marketplace (GeM) are operating from rented premises.

(With agency inputs)