On January 14, 2026, the Indian Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) will mark a historic departure from the iconic South Block on Raisina Hill, relocating to the newly inaugurated Seva Teerth complex. This move, scheduled for the auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti, represents the first time since India’s Independence in 1947 that the seat of executive power has shifted from its colonial-era headquarters.
The transition is the crown jewel of the Central Vista Redevelopment Project, which seeks to modernize India’s administrative core while systematically shedding symbols of British imperial rule. The South Block, designed by Herbert Baker and constructed in the 1930s, has housed every Indian Prime Minister from Jawaharlal Nehru to Narendra Modi.
Under the new plan, this historic sandstone structure will be repurposed as the “Yuge Yugeen Bharat Sangrahalaya,” a world-class national museum chronicling 5,000 years of Indian civilization, opening its doors to the public for the first time in nearly a century.
Seva Teerth: A Modern Executive Enclave
The new complex, formerly known during construction as the Executive Enclave, is located on Dara Shikoh Road (formerly Dalhousie Road) and spans approximately 226,203 square feet. Built by Larsen & Toubro at an estimated cost of ₹1,189 crore, the campus is divided into three distinct buildings:
Seva Teerth-1: The dedicated home for the Prime Minister’s Office, featuring high-tech ceremonial rooms for visiting dignitaries and an open-floor workspace designed to foster collaboration.
Seva Teerth-2: The new headquarters for the Cabinet Secretariat, which completed its move in late 2025.
Seva Teerth-3: The base for the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and the office of the National Security Advisor.
The naming of the complex—Seva Teerth (meaning “Pilgrimage of Service”)—aligns with the administration’s ideological shift from Satta (power) to Seva (service). This follows earlier symbolic changes, such as the renaming of Rajpath to Kartavya Path and the Prime Minister’s residence to Lok Kalyan Marg.
Strategic and Cultural Significance
The timing of the move on Makar Sankranti is deeply intentional, utilizing a day associated with the sun’s northern journey and new beginnings in the Vedic calendar to signify a “renewal” of Indian governance. Strategically, the move centralizes the highest decision-making bodies into a single, highly secure, and technologically advanced zone.
It effectively decongests the heritage buildings of Raisina Hill, which were not originally designed for the digital-heavy infrastructure of 21st-century governance. While the PMO moves this week, a new official residence for the Prime Minister is also nearing completion nearby, ensuring that the country’s top executive functions within a unified, secure campus that is both efficient and reflective of a “decolonized” national identity
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