JICA seeks to be Madurai AIIMS project consultant

About 90 per cent of pre-investment activities of the project are over and the state government has urged the need for taking up the construction in full swing to complete the project soon, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan said in Madurai on Saturday after inspecting a series of infrastructure developments in Government Rajaji Hospital.

He said the Centre has now expressed its readiness for admission of students in rental buildings and it would be decided with the Chief Minister MK Stalin.

The Centre has formed a Coordination Liaison committee comprising Executive Director for AIIMS Madurai, Deputy Directors, JIPMER, Pondicherry and AIIMS Rajkot and a meeting would be convened in Tamil Nadu on October 20 to hold discussions on the project.

The TN Chief Minister already met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi to expedite the AIIMS project, which was announced by in 2015 and foundation was laid in Madurai in January, 2019 and finally the Centre issued gazette notification on July 3 in 2020. Meanwhile, the JICA gave its nod on March 26, 2021 for setting up a communicable diseases block at an estimated cost of Rs 1,977.8 crore.

Citing Madurai GRH as next to Government Hospital in Chennai, he said six special schemes are underway with adequate infrastructure facilities.

Tower block is being constructed at Rs 121.8 crore and medical equipment would be bought through TNMSC. Twenty three operation theatres would come up additionally in GRH.