Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate several major health-care projects at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh on July 17, including a new Mother and Child Care Centre and a state-of-the-art Neurosciences Centre.

Modi will also lay the foundation stone for a 150-bed critical care hospital block. The combined value of the projects is about 12 billion rupees ($140 million Cdn).

PGIMER Director Dr. Vivek Lal said the new facilities will significantly expand access to advanced and affordable health care for millions of patients across northern India.

The 300-bed Mother and Child Care Centre, built at a cost of 5.05 billion rupees, includes an advanced neonatal intensive care unit, modular operating theatres and integrated maternal and newborn services under one roof. The facility is expected to strengthen the institute's capacity to manage more than 6,000 high-risk pregnancies annually.