Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi wave to the crowd at the inaguration of the Capital Complex on Sunday. (PTI)

Nov. 21: Such a long journey ? but the wait is finally over. Assam has got a permanent capital complex, at last.

The sprawling capital complex, adjacent to the present complex in Dispur on GS Road, is spread over a total floor area of 6,73,583.75 square feet. It was inaugurated today by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

For 30 years, Guwahati has been waiting for a home of its own.

The state government?s frantic search for a capital complex began just after the capital of undivided Assam was shifted from Shillong in 1972, when the decision to carve out the new state of Meghalaya was taken.

A long-neglected tea warehouse on the southern fringes of Guwahati was hurriedly renovated and modified to serve as the corridors of power. The complex was inaugurated by the then President, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.

But then, it was just a makeshift complex. And the subsequent government felt it did not have the ?prestige and grandeur? of a state capital.

Moreover, the complex ? given its temporary nature ? needed the injection of a lot of cash every year for its upkeep and maintenance. There was also the need to shed its ?temporary tag?.

?Because of the turmoil in the seventies and eighties, somehow the government could not get round to taking the decision to shift the complex all these years,? said chief secretary S. Kabilan.

The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) government, which came to power in 1985 with a massive mandate following the signing of the Assam Accord, decided in 1989 to construct a permanent capital complex just adjacent to the old complex.

But it took another 10 long years for the foundation stone of the new multi-storeyed capital complex to be laid. The red-letter date was May 12, 1999, and the then chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta did the honours.

The initial project cost of the complex was Rs 60 crore. The 10th Finance Commission sanctioned the amount. But the hitches continued.

Hindustan Steel Construction Ltd, the firm entrusted with the work, was forced to abandon the project after laying only a few piles of bricks. The reason: litigation.

In 2000, the state government hired Ansal Properties and Industries Ltd of New Delhi on a turnkey basis. It was given a timeframe of 36 months for completing the project.

But the company failed to complete the construction within the stipulated deadline. The government terminated its contract with Ansal and hired Unity Infraprojects Ltd of Mumbai in 2003.

Blocks A, C, F and G have already started functioning after several important departments, including finance and panchayat and rural development, were shifted there.

By March, all offices ? including the chief minister?s office ? will be relocated to the new complex.