Chandigarh, June 18 -- Work on the much-awaited 100-bedded MBBS medical college in Sarangpur is expected to begin by year-end, Dr Vivek Lal, director of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, shared on Tuesday. The hospital has sent the detailed project report of the Rs.987-crore Sarangpur project, which will also include an Advanced Cancer Institute, a Trauma Centre and outpatient departments (OPDs) for 16,000 patients, to the Union ministry of health and family welfare, Dr Lal said while addressing a press conference at Kairon block. PGIMER had received approval for the Sarangpur project by the Institute Body, the top decision-making body of the premier medical institute, in May. Union health minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, who had chaired the meeting, had then directed PGIMER to prepare and submit a detailed project report (DPR) to the health ministry. "I am confident that the foundation stone for the medical college will be laid by the end of this year. The government is very keen to increase the number of MBBS seats. Sarangpur college will enrol 100 students, and offer hostels and other facilities," Dr Lal. Speaking later to HT, he revealed that once work begins, the entire multi-crore project should be ready in three to four years. The project is aimed at significantly expanding the institute's healthcare and training infrastructure in the region. So far, PGIMER has only offered postgraduate courses, such as MD and MS, while MBBS seats in Chandigarh are available only at Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32. PGIMER had first announced plans to develop health facilities in Sarangpur in 2017 to ease patient load. Initially, the proposal involved shifting trauma, cancer, and kidney transplant services to the 50-acre site. After obtaining land possession on lease from the UT administration in 2021, the proposal was revised to include a new MBBS college, Advanced Cancer Institute, Trauma Centre and OPDs. But only the boundary wall has been constructed since 2022....