Could you ever imagine working in a small city? A new massive office building by Morphogenesis is being built to accommodate over 45,000 people for the Surat Diamond Bourse office in Surat, Gujarat, India. At 603.9 thousand square meter, and housing over 4,000 offices, it will be the second largest office building in the world, placing only behind the Pentagon in Washington D.C. Although its physical footprint may be large, the office building was designed in a manner to minimize its ecological footprint. Passive design strategies such as day-lit workspaces, natural ventilation, and indoor/outdoor spaces not only make the Surat Diamond office an efficient climate-responsive design, but also a key player for achieving aesthetic and comfortable working spaces. Perhaps the largest challenge with a design of this size is how to navigate the large volume of people which would inhabit it. Morphogenesis approached this by designating the ground plane for vehicular movement and podium levels exclusively pedestrian circulation. On this podium level, transportation routes are optimized to create no walking time greater than 4 minutes from an entrance to office module—a design strategy similar to that of airport terminals. The Surat Diamond Office wanted to foster an environment of social interaction and recreation. Over 40% of the building spaces are naturally ventilated, and a dense vegetation fills both the outside and inside of the building. These decisions not only blur the line between interior and exterior but also creating psychological advantages and improving indoor air quality. Additional climate-responsive design techniques are utilized to combat the hot and humid climate of Surat. All offices have been designed to face a pure north-south orientation, and a robust building envelope with less than 30% window area, lightweight concrete block construction and using the advantages of thermal mass by natural brick cladding helps bring down the external heat gains. The efficiency of the building also extends into its construction design. The project represents an innovative approach to low-cost architecture designed with maximum spatial efficiency. Design optimization and simplicity through design modularity diminished project costs to as low as US$ 555.6 for square meter while still maintaining high standards of environmental sustainability.

President Pranab Mukherjee will lay the foundation of the 213-meter Sri Krishna temple in Vrindavan on November 16, which backers say will be the world's tallest. Construction work has already begun on the piling for the pillars of the Chandrodaya Mandir, using the latest technology. The chief project director Bharat Prabhu, who keeps shuttling between Vrindavan and Bangalore, said "The US $49 million project...will take five years. We are using the world's latest technology and engineering processes to ensure a minimum life of 500 years for the gigantic structure that will go a long way to promote and nourish Sri Krishna consciousness, especially among the youth. The project is conceptualized and is being executed by ISKCON from Bangalore, which is partnering with Akshaya Patra, the world's largest non-governmental organization (NGO), which runs midday meal programs in the country feeding over a million school children every day. Prabhu said "this is a culturally and socially driven project which aims to put Vrindavan and India on the world map of iconic heritage structures. The project also employs many technologically innovative solutions to ensure environmental sustainability." This grand temple will harmoniously combine elements of both Indian temple architecture and modern architecture. A look-alike of the verdant forests of Vrindavan, consisting of twelve forests, will be recreated around the temple. Water from the Yamuna will be lifted and pumped to the meandering rivulet that will allow for boating and support aquatic life particular to the Braj area.

India has pledged to build the world's most powerful solar plant. With a nominal capacity of 4,000 megawatts, comparable to that of four full-size nuclear reactors, the "Ultra-Mega Green Solar Power Project" will be more than ten times larger than any other solar project built so far, and it will spread over 77 square kilometers of land - greater than the island of Manhattan. The first phase of the project, which will be for 1,000 megawatt capacity, is expected to be completed in three years. Six state-owned companies have formed a joint venture to execute the project, which they say can be completed in 7 years at a projected cost of US$ 4.4 billion. The proposed location is near Sambhar Salt Lake in the northern state of Rajasthan. The solar photovoltaic power plant will have an estimated life of 25 years and is expected to supply 6.4 billion kilowatt-hours per year, according to official figures. It could help to reduce India's carbon dioxide emissions by more than 4 million tons per year, estimates Parimita Mohanty, a fellow at the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in New Delhi. India currently has a grid-connected solar-power capacity of 2,208 MW - up from a mere 17.8 MW in 2010, when the central government launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). The JNNSM aims for India to reach an installed capacity of 20,000 MW (or 20 gig watts) of solar power by 2022.

Work has begun in India on what is billed as the "world's tallest statue" after Chief Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone in the western state of Gujarat. The statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, one of India's independence heroes, is being erected on a river island. At 182 meter, it would be twice as high as New York's Statue of Liberty. But critics say the statue's US$ 336 million price tag is much too expensive. The memorial would be called the "Statue of Unity". Officials say the statue is expected to be ready in 42 months. Sardar Patel, generally called the "Iron Man of India", played a major role in the country's fight for independence from British rule. Currently world's highest statue located in China. The 153 meters tall Buddha Vairocana statue was built in 2002. On the second place is 129 meters tall Sakyamuni Buddah statue in Myanmar and on the third place is 120 meters tall Amitabha Buddha statue in Japan.

As reported by emirates247.com, non-resident Indians in the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries are contributing to build what is claimed to be India's biggest mosque, Share Mubarak Masjid, which will come up in the outskirts of Kozhikode (Calicut), Kerala, home to a large number of NRIs living in the UAE. Dr MA Hakkim Azhari Kanthapuram, joint secretary of Markazu Ssaquafathi Ssunniyya of Calicut (a leading religious and charitable institution in India, helping the destitute Muslims and orphans in their education and overall socio-cultural development), during his visit to the UAE said, that about one million members of the organisation, many of them living in the UAE, each contributed US$ 22 to build the largest Indian mosque in a proposed Knowledge City, which is located on the outskirts of Calicut. To be built at a cost of US$ 8.8 million, the mosque will have a built-up area of 23 thousand square meters, accommodating up to 30 thousand worshippers. There will be a library for Islamic research and a conference hall where both Muslims and non-Muslims can come in pursuit of knowledge. The mosque will also be surrounded by Moghul-style garden and landscaping. The entire township would cost US$ 265 million. According to article, in Knowledge City will be professional engineering and medical colleges, a multidisciplinary hospital and healthcare city, a shopping mall, star hotels and convention center. The City layout has been finalised and urban planning is going on. Within the next six months, construction work will start. Currently, the biggest Indian mosque is Delhi's Jamia Masjid, built in the 17th century by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The Jamia Masjid is built with red sandstone and white marble. About 25 thousand people can pray here at a time.