Chandigarh, March 3 -- Nearly 17 years after its foundation stone was laid, the long delayed multipurpose auditorium at Panjab University (PU) is expected to be ready by March 15, with PU authorities indicating that a trial run will follow soon after. PU vice chancellor Renu Vig confirmed that March 15 has been communicated as the deadline for finalising the main auditorium. "Once the finishing touches are completed, we plan to host an event as part of the trial run," she said, signalling the beginning of phased operationalisation. Often referred to as the university's "white elephant", the project has been in the making since 2009. Its foundation stone was laid on November 3 that year by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Initially estimated at around Rs.30 crore in 2009, the project cost was later revised. The Detailed Project Report pegged the total project cost at Rs.117.93 crore. Officials now indicate the expenditure stands at approximately Rs.110 crore. Located at the South Campus, the auditorium was designed with a seating capacity of 2,500, though current operational capacity stands at around 2,200. The facility includes two green rooms, one VIP room, two rehearsal rooms and a Building Management System (BMS) room. The top floor houses a designated senate room, while the first floor accommodates two seminar halls with approximately 108 seats each. According to a supervisor at the site, while the project is nearly 90% complete, installation of chairs and final finishing works are expected to be wrapped up within the next two weeks. However, an official overseeing the construction indicated that the opening of the main auditorium would mark only Phase 1. "The rest of the complex will take at least six months to reach full completion," the official said. Students who have witnessed the site over the past two years say visible progress accelerated only recently. Nishant Rathore, a second year master's student at the University Institute of Management Sciences, said, "For the longest time, it looked like an unfinished structure in between large bushes, Only in the last four to five months has the construction visibly geared up." The original plans were prepared on an honorary basis by SD Sharma and Associates, who later conveyed his inability to continue providing detailed drawings, leading to early administrative delays. Over the years, the project has seen four vice chancellors assume office and leave without seeing its completion. Vig has prioritised finishing the project before the end of her tenure on March 28, even as discussions around her possible extension remain a subject of campus speculation. The auditorium is set to anchor Panjab University's broader expansion of its South Campus in Sector 25, with the UT administration granting conceptual approval for additions to the campus masterplan. As part of the second phase of development, the university will get its own Student Centre and a dedicated library cum reading hall to supplement the main Sector 14 campus library, along with nine new academic blocks proposed in addition to the twelve existing blocks that currently house sixteen departments. A PU official who was part of the committee overseeing the construction of the site said that once operational, the auditorium would emerge as a landmark for the university, comparable to the iconic Gandhi Bhawan on campus....