3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 2, 2026 03:45 AM IST
A Rs 247 crore office property owned by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) that has been lying vacant in Delhi for two years may soon find a tenant, with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) showing interest in leasing at least one of the two floors at NBCC’s World Trade Center in Nauroji Nagar.
The NIOS had purchased the office space in 2021, planning to relocate its headquarters from Noida, and took possession in March 2024. However, the autonomous education body has yet to move its operations and has been scouting for tenants.
According to sources, the MEA has written to Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, which is the nodal department for the NIOS under the Ministry of Education, to take one of the floors on rent.
The May 25 letter from Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary, comes three weeks after The Indian Express reported on May 4 that despite spending Rs 247 crore in 2021 and having received possession in 2024, the NIOS had not moved into the premium office space.
Why MEA is eyeing the space
The MEA, sources said, wants to rent the space for its public service delivery divisions that provide passport, consular, emigration, and diaspora-related services. These MEA divisions, sources added, are “facing acute shortage” of office accommodation and are currently spread over five different locations in the national capital.
According to a source, the MEA stated in its letter that the scattered arrangement has led to “operational challenges, including difficulties in coordination, delays in communication and inconvenience to the visitors seeking consular, diplomatic/official passport and visa services”. Therefore, it added, the integration of these divisions at a single location could help improve efficiency, streamline functioning, and enhance public service delivery.
The source further said that, MEA in its letter on May 25 said that as they were exploring possible options for creating a dedicated separate office space for the divisions handling citizen-centric services and diaspora work, their “enquiries revealed that the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) has acquired two floors in NBCC’s World Trade Centre in Nauroji Nagar, New Delhi and may be interested in leasing out at least one of the two floors acquired by them”.
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It further stated that the location of the property is not very far from the MEA Headquarters at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhavan, and the available carpet area per floor of 22,316 sq ft perfectly matches the MEA’s space requirements. The MEA sought to take on lease “at least 1 floor out of the 2 floors on a long-term basis on mutually agreeable terms and conditions”.
After a month, Kumar wrote to the NIOS chairperson on June 30, seeking comments and views on the MEA’s request.
The NIOS, which is mandated to educate underprivileged children, receives no budgetary support from the Centre. It funds itself entirely through admission and examination fees. According to its last publicly available annual report for 2022-23, the NIOS generated a total income of Rs 288.65 crore that year, of which Rs 183 crore came from admission and exam fees, against a total expenditure of Rs 157.89 crore.
