The Tamil Nadu Government is in talks with the World Bank to fund a Rs.650 crore project to upgrade the existing infrastructure in the Government run hospitals and medical colleges in the state.

The proposed project is to construct new buildings and setting up modern infrastructure, including installing latest medical equipments attached to the Directorate of Medical Services controlled Government hospitals and the nine medical colleges in the state.

Initial discussions were over with the World Bank officials, and a high level team from World Bank would soon visit the state to assess and study the existing infrastructure in the Government hospitals. Details of the project and other modalities, including World Bank assistance terms and the funding pattern are in the final stages of approval, according to sources.

As part of the thrust given by the state government to upgrade the infrastructure, it is in the process of establishing an advanced network interlinking all the medical colleges. The medical colleges will be also linked to the Directorate of Medical Services head quarters in Chennai, where the initial phase of networking will be soon implemented. For this, the Government has sanctioned Rs.50 lakh for computerizing the office. The Small Industries Service Institute (SISI) and Anna University have been entrusted with the task of implementing the networking facility, said the sources.

Further, the Government has already cleared a proposal to install dialysis machines, each costing over Rs.6 lakh, in all the Government run district hospitals. The Tamilnadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC), the sole Government agency in charge of supply of drugs and hospital equipments to the Government hospitals, will supply the machines in a phased manner.