AIIMS to come up at Bhongir

​Hyderabad: The State government has decided to set up the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Bhongir instead of the earlier plan of converting the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) into AIIMS and shifting it to Bibinagar.

The State government has identified 1,000 acres of land on a single stretch at Bhongir, 50 km away from Hyderabad, to set up the hospital as the Union Ministry of Health had rejected the State government’s earlier proposal to convert the existing NIMS Hospital into the AIIMS.

In an official communication, the Union government has informed the State government that the NIMS campus does not meet the parameters and standard requirements set for the establishment of the Centrally- sponsored medical institute.

The State government, in the past, informed the Union government that it had acquired 250 acres of land in addition to the NIMS campus. But the Union government insisted that the government identify 1,000 acres of land to set up the AIIMS.

The officials of the State Medical and Health Department said following the directive from the Centre, the State government identified 1,000 acres of land under Bhongir municipal area. The government had prepared a fresh proposal and forwarded it to the Union government.

It may be mentioned here that under the AP Reorganisation Act, the UPA government had promised to set up AIIMS hospitals one each in AP and Telangana. Sources said the State government had now fulfilled all the norms, including identification of land required to set up the AIIMS and had submitted a detailed report to the Union government.

The Centre had now given its nod. The process to seek all the clearances and no objection certificates from local bodies was in progress, the official said.