Tamil Nadu is all set to receive an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Thoppur near Madurai.

Speaking to the reporters on Wednesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami said that former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had requested the central government to sanction an AIIMS to Tamil Nadu, which was sanctioned in 2015-16.

“A team from the Centre visited five locations to establish AIIMS. The team visited Chengalpattu (Kanchipuram district), Sengipatti (Thanjavur district), Thoppur (Madurai district), Perundurai (Erode district), and Pudukkottai (Pudukkottai district) and chose Madurai for establishing AIIMS. The order has been sent to our Health Secretary,” the Chief Minister said.

The 750-bed teaching hospital will be spread over 200 acres and will have facilities to accommodate 100 MBBS students and 60 nursing students. It will be established on a budget of Rs 1,500 crores.

The central government has requested the state government to provide the land, water supply, electricity and four-lane road connectivity to the proposed AIIMS.

Expressing his heartfelt thanks in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Palaniswami said: "On behalf of the people of Tamil Nadu and me, I thank you, Sir, for selecting the establishment of a new AIIMS at Thoppur in Madurai district."

He also wrote that establishing AIIMS would ‘substantially augment the facilities in the State for providing quality medical education, research and also ensure high-end tertiary level health care in the public sector to benefit the poor and middle classes of the State.’

Furthermore, he assured that the state government would provide all necessary support to the central government to facilitate the commencement of work.