The funding is in addition to the grant of £9.4m (of which £8m was for capital) awarded in January 2014.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that initial projected costs for the project had almost doubled, from £45m to £80m.

The project has since received additional funding from various sources, and on Tuesday, the HLF confirmed it too had increased its funding.

Philip Long, director of V&A Dundee, welcomed the decision: “This generous support from the Heritage Lottery Fund represents a significant boost to the new museum. Together with important recent decisions by Scottish Government and Dundee City Council it opens the door to an impending site start. We can now look forward to getting on and building this outstanding new museum, the first in the UK to be dedicated to design outside London.

“The renewed support of our funding and founding partners underlines the momentum and determination driving forward V&A Dundee, which will do so much to change the fortunes of this city. We very much appreciate these commitments and would like to thank to all involved.”

Carole Souter, chief executive of the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), said: “V&A Dundee will provide Scotland with a world-class museum of design while making a transformational contribution to the cultural, social and economic regeneration of the city. As a key member of the funding partnership, HLF’s UK Board has agreed to commit an additional £4.5m budget to the project to help cover increased building costs. We can now look forward to seeing this iconic building start to take shape and realising its full potential.”

The announcement augments the approval given by Dundee City Council’s policy & resources committee to allocate £6.5m of the authority’s capital budget to the scheme and to delegate authority to accept the fixed price tender by BAM Construction Ltd.

The Scottish Government is also to invest an extra £10m to the construction of the museum, increasing its capital contribution towards the project to £25m.

Discussions are ongoing between the Scottish Government and Dundee City Council regarding joint working on the development of a growth acceleration model (GAM) proposal for Dundee Waterfront, to be submitted to Scottish Government for consideration over the coming months.

Work is programmed to begin on site at the end of March, with the building itself projected to be complete by end 2017. Fit out of the galleries and first exhibitions will follow, leading to an anticipated public opening of the museum by June 2018.