The Planning Commission has approved Rs 1000 cr towards the establishment costs of six centers of medical excellence in various parts of the country. All centers would be replicating the pattern of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi and would have almost all the facilities that are present in AIIMS at Delhi.

Informing this, JVR Prasada Rao, secretary Health, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that the medical centers would be coming up in Bihar, Orissa, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttaranchal.

"The central government decided to have state-of-the-art tertiary care medical centers in these states after it was found that majority of the patients reaching AIIMS, Delhi was not from with the state, but from the neighbouring states like Rajasthan."

The need for decentralizing healthcare delivery systems was felt and the announcement of the mini-AIIMS in various states followed, he explained. The secretary informed that the Planning Commission nod has ensured sufficient funds for the project and the works on the centers would begin soon.

Estimated to cost Rs 387 crore per hospital, the six AIIMS would be established during the 10th five-year plan period.

The land for the institutes is to be allotted by respective state governments. The central assistance would include the construction of the hospitals and allotment of Rs 100 crore annually towards the running cost of each hospital. The new hospitals would also see a reduced flow of patients to AIIMS, Delhi from states like Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. AIIMS is also catering to the patients from Rajasthan and Haryana on a large scale.