patiala chief minister amarinder singh digitally laid the foundation stone of punjabs first dedicated sports university and various other development projects in patiala on the occasion of dussehra on sundaythe maharaja bhupinder singh sports university will be developed at rs 500 crore of which rs 60 crore will be invested in the initial phase for the development of academic and administrative blocks and hostels on the campus according to a government statementthe chief minister recalled the contribution of his grandfather maharaja bhupinder singh whose 129th birth anniversary falls on sunday the university is being established in his memorythe university will help in the scientific development of sportspersons singh said adding that he wanted to see punjab develop as a sports hub and its sportsmen and coaches equipped with scientific knowledgehe thanked the panchayat and people of sidhuwal who contributed land free of cost for the sports universitythe residents of sidhuwal had earlier donated land for a law university and have also offered another 100 kilas acres for other projects the chief minister said announcing a rs 50lakh grant for the villagesingh expressed hope that staff and students will be able to move into the campus by 2022 they will benefit immensely from the universitys multiple courses many of which are adopted from uks loughborough university he saidhe assured that despite the covid19 crisis his government will provide more funds to the university for speedy completion of the construction worksingh also extended dussehra greetings to the people of patiala who he said suffered a lot due to the coronavirus infection he urged them to take all precautions amid projections of a spike in cases in novemberdecemberother development projects which were launched included surface waterbased water supply for patiala city rs 503 crore the development of a heritage street near qila mubarak rs 43 crore and a new bus stand on rajpura road rs 65 crore