New Delhi: The Union Cabinet today approved the Revised Cost Estimates (RCE) for setting up of six new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) like institutions and upgradation of 13 existing government medical college institutions under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) (Phase I) for an outlay of Rs.9307.62 crore.

PMSSY was initially started in March, 2006 with the object of correcting regional imbalances in the availability of affordable/reliable tertiary healthcare services and also to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country.

It has two components in its first phase - (i) setting up of six AIIMS-like institutions and (ii) upgradation of thirteen existing government medical college institutions.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had earlier approved the scheme for Rs.3975.99 crore. Due to substantial changes in the cost and scope of the works the requirement of funds has trebled necessitating a fresh Cabinet approval.

“The allocation made for the PMSSY-Phase I projects for the XI Plan was Rs.3955 crore. Additional expenditure involved would be Rs.5535.62 crore. However, the allocation of XI Plan is sufficient to meet the expenditure in the remaining two years of the plan period,” said an official from the Cabinet.

The new institutions/upgraded facilities in the existing medical colleges would provide tertiary health care facilities in and around the location and adjoining districts/States in the country.

The projects under Phase-I of PMSSY are spread over 19 locations in the 16 states of the country.

The new AIIMS-like institutions are located at Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Bhubaneswar (Orissa), Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Patna (Bihar), Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and Rishikesh (Uttarakhand).

These institutions will be completed by the end of 2012. The upgradation components in Phase-I involves upgradation of government medical colleges at Trivandrum, Salem, Bangalore, Kolkata, Jammu and Srinagar; NIMS, Hyderabad; SGPGIMS, Lucknow; B.J. Medical College, Ahmedabad; RIMS, Ranchi; IMS, BHU, Varanasi; SVIMS, Tirupati; and Grants Medical College, Mumbai.