An All India Institute of Medical Sciences is set to come up near Madurai in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said on Wednesday. “The 750-bed modern facility will be set up at Thoppur near Madurai at an estimated Rs 1,500 crore,” he said. The new AIIMS can accommodate 100 medical and 60 nursing students.

He said late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had requested the Centre to permit an AIIMS facility in Tamil Nadu, which was sanctioned in the Union Budget 2015-’16. The facility was, however, delayed by the decision over its location.

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

The chief minister thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allotting the facility in the state.