Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday laid the foundation stone of a private university in Mohali with the hope that it would transform the destiny of the state's students and help them keep pace with the changing global milieu.

Underlining the importance of preparing children to meet the needs of tomorrow, and even the day after, he said with technology shrinking the world into a global village, technological advancements, particularly in the field of communication and IT, were positively impacting life.

Plaksha University, with its tie-ups with international institutions, would play a pivotal role in strengthening the technological prowess of students, he said, according to an official release.

The university, being set up on a 50-acre area with an investment of Rs 2,000 crore over 15 years, will cater to 1,000 students in Phase-1 and plans to expand to 8,000 students by 2035, the release said. It has been co-founded by Ashish Gupta, also the co-founder and trustee of Ashoka University, as well as Tech Mahindra former executive vice chairman Vineet Nayyar.

Recalling his own graduation days in the National Defence Academy, when students had no access to gadgets, Singh, an ex-Captain in the Indian Army, said what he had learnt during those days has become irrelevant today, but the foundations that had been built continued to remain strong.

Technology will grow further and institutions like Plaksha will groom students in staying ahead, he added.

Thanking the founders for building a great institution, the chief minister said, as per plans shared with him, the university, with the entire area around it beautifully developed, would become a centre of excellence for the state by 2035, when it is estimated to have 8,000 students.

Its close proximity to the international airport here would give the university an added advantage, said the chief minister.

"Being established by 40 technology and business leaders, it is set to pioneer the transformation of technology education in India, with its own Academic Advisory Board of global engineering leaders.

"The university also aims to start research centres around some big challenges that are relevant to India including urban mobility, sustainability, factories of the future, health and education. The vision is to build a next-generation university at the intersection of technology, science and humanities to transform the world in the 21st century," the release said.

Seventeen of the 40 founders were present at the function on Sunday, which was also attended by Cabinet ministers Manpreet Singh Badal, Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi and Vijay Inder Singla.

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