The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre has decided to go ahead with the ₹20,000 crores mega project to renovate Lutyens’ Delhi. The Centre had issued the notification about the change in land use regarding the Lutyens' Delhi project on Friday last week, as per media reports.

The move comes as the nation is witnessing a 21-day lockdown due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. Meanwhile, the total budget allocated to combat coronavirus stands at ₹15,000 crores.

The project will revamp the 86-acre of the Lutyens’ Delhi, including the residence of the Prime Minister, the Rashtrapati Bhavan, North Block, South Block, and Sansad Bhavan among others.

The decision of revamping has been taken at a time when coronavirus is on the rise.

Many experts have also opposed the decision and raised concerns over the government’s move.

Tavleen Singh, author and journalist, took to microblogging site Twitter to express her anguish and wrote: "Worrying that Parliament yesterday approved a plan to change Parliament House and the Central Vista. An unknown architect has been chosen to alter the historical heart of New Delhi without a full public debate. How and why?"

Communist Party leader Sitaram Yechury has also lashed out at the government for taking the development decision at such a crucial time. Yechury tweeted: “Modi government priorities are cruel. When all resources must be mopped up to meet this Covid-19 challenge a Gazette notification is issued for the â‚¹20K crore Central Vista project. Shame.”

Meanwhile, the number of cases in India has spiked to 561, with 11 deaths reported so far.