Construction of main buildings for the new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Thoppur, in Madurai will be taken up once the loan is sanctioned by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The time frame for completion is 45 months, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in reply to a Right to Information query.
According to the reply from the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY)-III of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, JICA funding has been sought for the facility in Madurai and the process is continuing.
The Cabinet had approved setting up a new AIIMS in Madurai at a cost of ₹1,264 crore. Pre-investment activities are on at the site, it said.
The Centre had announced establishment of AIIMS in Madurai district as part of phase-V in the 2015-2016 Budget. So far, it released ₹5 crore, the reply said. Twenty-two AIIMS are being set up across the country through PMSSY. In a release issued by Press Information Bureau in November 2019 on the status of new AIIMS under the scheme, loan agreement for AIIMS Madurai is likely to be signed by September 2020 subject to approval of the Government of India and Government of Japan. Su. Venkatesan, Member of Parliament, Madurai, said the project recommendation of JICA was expected to be ready in three or four months after a team undertook a field visit last year. “How much fund is being sanctioned by JICA will be known once the project report is out. We are closely following up and I also spoke to the Union Finance Minister three times,” he said.
Health officials said this being a project funded by JICA, it was a long process of funding and fixing the consultancy. “JICA has approved the loan and there are certain procedural formalities. Right now, work on compound wall is progressing. It will be completed fast as it is pre-fabricated,” an official added.
