The construction of the new Parliament building under the government's ambitious Central Vista redevelopment plan which received approval earlier this week began today. As per official sources, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) asked Tata Projects Ltd to start the new Parliament building's construction work on January 15, considering the auspicious day of Makar Sankranti.Earlier this week, a 14-member heritage panel gave its approval to the new Parliament building and to the Central Vista redevelopment project.Last month, PM Narendra Modi had laid the new Rs 971 crore parliament building's foundation stone. The complex is planned to be completed by the 75th anniversary of India's independence in 2022. The new building will stand in front of the existing Parliament house that was built nearly 94 years ago at a cost of Rs 83 lakh at that time and would eventually be turned into a museum. Watch: What the new Parliament building is all about The building will house larger Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha Halls, with capacities of 384 seats and 888 seats respectively, to accommodate an expanded Parliament after the freeze on its expansion lifts in 2026. For hosting joint sessions, the Lok Sabha Hall will also have an additional capacity of up to 1,272 seats. As a part of the plant, provisions in the furniture will be made for digital language interpretation and recording infrastructure to produce real-time metadata, smart displays and biometrics for ease of voting with an intuitive and graphical interface, and programmable microphones that put the control of managing the house with the speaker. Image Source