Paris-Based Museum Studio to Design 23 Museums in Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Ashram Redevelopment

Ahmedabad, October 1, 2026: Paris-headquartered global firm Museum Studio has been awarded the contract to design 23 museums planned as part of the ongoing redevelopment of the historic Sabarmati Ashram, also known as Gandhi Ashram, in Ahmedabad.

The firm will work in a consortium with Ecofirst Services Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Consulting Engineers. The Mahatma Gandhi Sabarmati Ashram Memorial Trust is overseeing the large-scale project to redevelop, conserve and expand the ashram under the direct supervision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The initiative aims to create what sources describe as the world’s largest “world-class” memorial dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, spread over about 55 acres.

Museum Studio specialises in turnkey projects for cultural institutions and operates in 46 countries. Ecofirst has been given a contract worth approximately ₹113 crore for the design and development of museums and exhibitions across 23 buildings.

These structures originally included a hostel, gaushala, school, spinning and weaving centre, paper-making centre and creche. They are being restored using traditional materials such as bricks, teak and lime plaster, bound with a paste of urad dal, jaggery and fenugreek seeds, and repurposed as museums.

The museum inside the Ashram Gaushala is being handled separately by the National Dairy Development Board.

A nine-member Content Advisory Committee (CAC), appointed by the trust, is providing inputs on the museums, which will showcase different aspects of Gandhi’s life and his role in the independence movement.

The committee includes:

• Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh
• Rajashree Birla, trustee of Gujarat Vidyapith and granddaughter-in-law of Gandhi associate Ghanshyamdas Birla
• Anjani Kumar Singh, Director General, Bihar Museum, Patna
• Kishor Makwana, Chairperson, National Commission for Scheduled Castes, and former Gujarat BJP spokesperson
• Harshad Patel, Vice Chancellor, Gujarat Vidyapith, and former Gujarat BJP media convener
• Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Director General, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai
• Rizwan Kadri, historian and member of the Prime Minister’s Museum and Library Society
• Rajaram Yajnik, trustee, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts
• Manvi Seth, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Indian Institute of Heritage, New Delhi

The committee has met three times since its formation in March 2026. At its August meeting, it reviewed material covering Gandhi’s years in South Africa and the people who influenced him or were influenced by him.

One member visited Satyagraha House in Johannesburg, designed by Hermann Kallenbach, where Gandhi stayed in 1908-09, and submitted a detailed 60-page input.

The committee is currently examining a first draft plan from Ecofirst for authenticity. After its approval, the content will go to the National Institute of Design (NID) for proof-checking and review of Museum Studio’s design.

Final vetting of communication and content formats will be done by the Prime Minister’s Museum and Library Society and the Indian Institute of Heritage.

Digital elements in the museums have been capped at 30% of the presentation. Air conditioning will be limited to spaces housing electronic displays.

The overall Sabarmati Ashram redevelopment, estimated at ₹1,200 crore, is a joint project of the central and Gujarat governments. Urban planner Bimal Patel’s firm, HCP Design, Planning and Management, prepared the masterplan and is handling civil works.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel chairs the trust’s Governing Council, while retired IAS officer I.P. Gautam heads the Executive Council.

Gandhi acquired the original plot on the banks of the Sabarmati river in 1917 and lived there until 1930. The ashram was the starting point of the Dandi March.

Sources associated with the project note that a significant portion of Gandhi’s contributions to India and the world originated from this ashram.