Campus accommodation for doctors and paramedical staff of AIIMS is set to be tripled with the Union Cabinet approving redevelopment of residential colonies for the premier medical institute of the country.

National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd (NBCCL) will undertake the exercise to replace the existing housing stock of 1,444 dwelling units of Type I to IV with 3,928 dwelling units of Type II to VI at West Ansari Nagar and Ayur Vigyan Nagar campuses of the AIIMS. According to Union health minister J.P. Nadda, this will take the accommodation available for doctors and paramedics to three times the existing number.

A senior official of the ministry said that only four per cent of AIIMS faculty currently live in these residential colonies. There are a total of 10,000 doctors and paramedical staff at AIIMS.

NBCCL will also create social infrastructure facilities, including a new dharamshala. This will double the capacity of the existing dharamshala which can accommodate 1,100 attendants.

The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 4,441 crore including maintenance and operation costs for 30 years. The ministry officials tipped this to be the largest redevelopment plan in the healthcare sector in decades.

The project will be implemented as self-financing based on the sale of commercial space on free hold basis with no cost to the exchequer. The project will be completed in five years in a phased manner. The present residential accommodations at West Ansari Nagar and Ayur Vigyan Nagar campuses are more than 50-60 years old and have outlived their utility and are unsafe to live in. The rapidly deteriorating conditions of these old houses entail very high expenditure on their maintenance.