NEW DELHI: The National Press Centre, which has been in the planning for almost two decades, will finally be ready by 31 August 2012.

Estimated to cost around Rs 600 million, the Centre is being constructed on Raisina Road near Shastri Bhavan in the capital by the National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd.

The Press Information Bureau, which is presently housed in the first floor of Shastri Bhavan, will shift to the new building.
 
The Centre, envisaged as a state-of-the-art Media Centre, will have a press conference hall, library and workstations for mediapersons, and other amenities to facilitate smooth working of media.

Conceived when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister, the foundation stone for the Centre had been laid by then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in December 2001. It had then been estimated to cost Rs 300 million.