Washington, Aug. 1 -- 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.

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...