Angul, Sept. 1: The foundation stone for a medical college and hospital at Talcher will be laid on Thursday.

Chief minister Naveen Pattnaik and Union minister of state for coal Piyush Goyal are scheduled to attend the programme. Two central ministers - Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan - are also expected to be present, said sources in Mahanadi Coalfield Limited (MCL).

The proposed medical college will have 100 seats and a 500-bed hospital, called Mahanadi Institute of Medical Science and Research that will be set up at a cost of Rs 491 crore. The complex will come up on 8.33 hectares near the central hospital of the MCL.

The establishment of the medical college at Talcher has been hanging fire since 2008 when the coal ministry and Coal India Limited had promised to set up the facility in the industrial town. The state government and the MCL signed a memorandum of understanding in March 2014 for the college. The permission for the diversion of some forestland for the purpose was granted in December 2014, sources said.

"The Coal India board had approved the budget on August 12 and thereafter a memorandum of understanding was signed with state-owned National Building Construction Corporation to construct the medical college and hospital," said MCL director P.C. Panigrahi.

He said preparations were on to welcome three central ministers and the chief minister. He also said that the coal minister was likely to visit a coalmine during his brief visit to Talcher.

State BJP leader Kalandi Samal said: "The people of Talcher desperately required the facility."