Ranchi, Jan 21 (IANS): Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren Tuesday laid the foundation stone for the new state assembly building amid protests from residents of the area.

The foundation was laid at Kute village in Ranchi.

The Ranchi-based Heavy Engineering Corporation has given 2,000 acres of land to the state. The building will come up on around 39 acres of land.

State Assembly Speaker Shashank Shekhar Bhokta was also present at the ceremony.

The new building will be constructed at a cost of around Rs.450 crore and it will have a capacity to seat as many as 120 legislators. The state assembly presently has a strength of 81 members.

Villagers, led by Congress Lok Sabha MP Subodh Kant Sahay, protested the state government's move to construct the building in the area.

The protestors are demanding that the land be returned to the original land owners from whom it was acquired in 1960 for setting up the Heavy Engineering Corporation complex.