Nagpur: AIIMS construction to commence in 2017

Nagpur: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) campus at Mihan, on a 150 acre stretch is going to take off on a constructional spree from March 2017. It is believed that the state of the art project would be complete in three years.

The Institute will be temporarily accommodated at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), for which work will gather pace in December.

A tender has been floated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) recently for appointing a consultant for the project, revealed the Nodal Officer, AIIMS, Dr. Ravi Chauhan. ."It is a global tender. The consultant will be surely finalized before November ends," he added.

The consult is supposed get ready a detailed project report (DPR) for submission to the Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation (MADC), who will then sanction the building plan. The construction would commence immediately after, ending within a time span of three years, stated Chauhan. The boundary wall construction on the demarcated land that began in April 2016, will be complete by December 2016.

The 960 bed AIIMS project costing Rs. 1547 crore was given the central government approval on October 7, 2015, stated Dr.Chauhan.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, at a meeting in July took a decision to start AIIMS from a temporary accommodation till the state of the art construction at Mihan was ready. In a positive move the ministers went ahead and recommended that the institute be initiated from the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital in Ganeshpeth. They also recommended three colleges: Raisoni College at Hingna, Panpaliya Homeopathy Hospital at Nandanvan and Pharmacy College for educational and accommodation needs.

Following these recommendations a central government team undertook a two day visit to check out on the proposed infra structures in the city, including the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital at Ganeshpeth and GMCH.

The six member team post its survey recommended the GMCH for temporary beginnings of AIIMS. This was done due to the ESIC not having an attached medical college.The Ministry is expected to give an approval soon.

Seats for AIIMS Nagpur will be open to medical aspirants through the February 2017, entrance examination.