Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of a medical college in Kapurthala virtually during his visit to Ferozepur on January 5, a BJP leader has said. Modi is primarily visiting the state, on January 5, to inaugurate a satellite centre of the Chandigarh-based Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Ferozepur district. This will be his first visit to Punjab after the repeal of three farm laws.

Punjab BJP leader Umesh Sharda, on December 30, said that the Rs 325 crore medical college will be spread over 24 acres and will be situated on the bypass road adjoining the local public hospital. The college would be ready by 2024, Sharda said. The Prime Minister has not visited the state ever since the farm laws were first introduced last year, however, the Punjab elections are now around the corner. 

Modi is likely to address a rally after the two events. Sharda claimed that the college is the only big project in Kapurthala since the setting up of a rail coach factory, whose foundation stone was laid by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1985. He said that he received a phone call from the Ministry of Health regarding the inauguration.