Political row in Washington over $1 bn US Embassy upgrade cancellation in Delhi

US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor has decided to cancel a planned upgrade and expansion of the American Embassy in New Delhi over ballooning costs, causing consternation among some in Washington, HT has learnt.Cancellation of the $1 billion US Embassy upgrade in New Delhi draws criticism in Washington over security risks, costs and congressional oversight. (File Photo)The renovation – which first broke ground before Donald Trump left office in 2021 and was estimated to cost nearly $874 million at the time – was one of the largest such projects undertaken by the US anywhere in the world. In a June interview with the New York Times, US ambassador Sergio Gor announced that the project’s costs ballooned to $1.2 billion with an expected completion date of 2036, nine years behind the original 2027 deadline.A US state department spokesman told HT that the decision to cancel the expansion was taken in December 2025.But some former senior US officials as well as figures on Capitol Hill expressed dismay that the project – which represented a long overdue upgrade to an ageing embassy built in the 1950s - was cancelled midway.“This is an important diplomatic mission, and canceling its expansion has real consequences. If the Delhi embassy project was facing insurmountable delays, the State Department should have notified Congress immediately. Instead, the Department kept telling us it was on track, even though Rubio canceled the project last year. Why did the State Department mislead Congress all these months?” asked Congressman Gregory Meeks, the top Democratic Party lawmaker on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.HT has learnt that as recently as May this year, the State Department indicated that work on the Embassy expansion was ongoing. It did not indicate that a major cancellation or disruption of expansion plans was already underway, although the decision to cancel the project occurred in December. Another point of contention is Gor’s assertion that the Embassy project’s cost had ballooned to $1.2 billion and would be completed only in 2036. However, HT has learnt that information on the project circulated by the State Department in May indicated the project’s cost stood at $1.048 billion with an expected completion date of October 2029. The divergences between the stated reasons for the cancellation and the available information have raised questions from former officials and other persons aware of the matter about the decision-making involved.In 2021, Washington announced that it had broken ground on an $874 million effort to renovate the embassy in New Delhi. The project - executed by the New York-based architectural firm Weiss-Manfredi - intended to construct a new multi-building complex complete with a modern chancery and office annex, staff residences, and support facilities. In addition, plans included a renovation of the historic Edward Durrell Stone Chancery building - the 1959 inauguration of which was attended by then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.The project, said one former senior US official, represented a long overdue need to modernise the US mission in New Delhi.“Over time, embassies need upgrades for a variety of reasons. For example, security requirements have changed dramatically since the time that the Embassy in New Delhi was constructed, which I understand was around 1960. That embassy is no longer in compliance with today’s guidelines and has many other obsolete features,” the official said.A State Department spokesperson argued that the department regularly reviewed the progress of projects to ensure the money was being spent to promote the interests of the US taxpayer. The US Embassy expansion project has been in the works for well over a decade, with Weiss-Manfredi first hired to redesign the mission back in 2015.