Chandigarh, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Friday said his government was committed to establishing a music academy in the memory of singing sensation Ishmeet Singh, who died mysteriously in Maldives last year.

The chief minister directed the Ludhiana Improvement Trust to immediately transfer land to the state’s cultural affairs department for setting up the Ishmeet Sangeet Academy at Ludhiana, 100 km from here.

Ishmeet Singh, winner of the “Voice of India” singing contest on a leading TV entertainment channel in November 2007, had mysteriously died after drowning in the swimming pool of a sea resort in Maldives in July last year. He had gone for an event in Maldives.

The 19-year-old, who hailed from Ludhiana, was tipped to be a singing sensation.

The Punjab government has earmarked Rs.20 crore for the Ishmeet Sangeet Academy and the Harpal Tiwana centre for performing arts to be set up in Patiala town.