A report submitted by the Delhi government's Vigilance Directorate to the office of the Lieutenant Governor (LG) has stated that the renovation of the Delhi State Chief's official residence cost INR 527.1 million ($6 million).
The department submitted the report after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in April alleged irregularities in renovating Delhi State Chief Arvind Kejriwal's residence and LG V.K. Saxena directed Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to secure all the relevant files and submit a factual report.
Of the total cost– INR 334.9 million was spent on the construction of the house and INR 192.2 million on a camp office for the state chief, the report said, citing records of the Public Works Department (PWD).
"Nothing in the report states that any crime was committed. This is the first time that an official residence complex for the state chief created in Delhi, comprising the state chief's residence, an office secretariat, an auditorium, and staff quarters," the ruling Aam Aadmi Party said.
In March 2020, additional accommodation arrangements in the state chief's office were proposed, including -- a drawing room, two meeting rooms, and a dining room with a capacity of 24 people -- and the addition of an upper story by remodeling the existing structure.
The report said the Public Works Department (PWD) proposed the demolition of the existing structure on the ground that it was an old one, built in 1942-43.
The report added that the state chief's residence was marked as addition and alteration, but an entire building was constructed to replace the existing structure.