India's Cabinet has approved a Rs 3,230 crore plan to turn New Delhi's historic North and South Block buildings into the Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum, the government announced on 11 November.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the development of the museum at the North and South Block Complex on Raisina Hill. The project will be delivered through adaptive reuse of the two century-old Secretariat buildings, preserving their architectural character and heritage significance while converting them into galleries, conservation facilities and public spaces. It will be implemented in phases from financial year 2026-27 to 2030-31.

Planned as the world's largest museum display area

The government says the museum will have a display area of more than one lakh square metres, larger than the Louvre in Paris (73,000 sq m), the British Museum in London (70,000 sq m) and the Hermitage in St Petersburg (66,800 sq m). The proposed built-up area is about 1,78,509 square metres, and the museum is being designed to welcome 30,000 visitors a day and one crore visitors a year.

The museum was first announced by Mr Modi on 18 May 2023. The government formally vacated North and South Block on 13 February this year, shifting ministries to Seva Teerth and Kartavya Bhavans, and the proposal was appraised by the Public Investment Board on 27 July before Cabinet approval. Reports say the first gallery, on the theme of Adornment, is expected to open in North Block in the second half of 2027.

The architectural and exhibition design is being led by a consortium headed by Arcop Associates, with Thailand-born architect Kulapat Yantrasast of Los Angeles-based WHY Architecture as principal designer. Read the government's announcement from the Press Information Bureau.