Keralam has identified 10 potential sites for AIIMS, says Health Minister

Keralam Health Minister K. Muraleedharan

The Keralam government is expediting efforts to identify a suitable location for the proposed All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the State and it has already conveyed to the Centre the details of 10 sites which might be suitable for setting up AIIMS, Health Minister K. Muraleedharan told the Assembly on Thursday.

He was replying to a calling attention motion moved by G. Sudhakaran, MLA, who spoke about the need to expedite the process of setting up AIIMS in the State. He also brought to the attention of the Health Minister that 660.9 acres of single land holding was available at Purakkad panchayat in Alappuzha district, which he said was most suitable for setting up AIIMS, considering its proximity and accessibility to the NH and MC Roads.

Mr. Muraleedharan, in his reply, pointed out that the State had submitted a detailed proposal to the Centre in 2014, identifying four locations in Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Kozhikode, following the Centre’s directives that a suitable location — at least 200 acres of contiguous, undisputed land, with connectivity to national highways, railway stations and airports, and adequate drinking water and electricity — for setting up AIIMS be identified.

In 2017, the then State government had recommended the land held by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) at Kinalur in Kozhikode as the ideal location for AIIMS and had informed the Centre. Mr. Muraleedharan also said that the Union Health Ministry had, in October 2024, requested the Union Finance Ministry to grant in-principle approval for establishing an AIIMS in Kerala.

The present government, which assumed office in May 2026, decided to re-examine the proposals and to give several options to the Centre as possible sites for locating AIIMS. The Health department was asked to submit a detailed proposal regarding this.

Accordingly, of the 10 sites that the State government proposed to the Union Health Ministry, the Centre had a preference for the land adjoining the Nettukaltheri open prison at Neyyattinkara in Thiruvananthapuram district. However, this could not go ahead as following a Supreme Court order, almost 75 % of this land had to be handed over to Brahmos, Mr. Muraleedharan said. The State government has asked the Collectors of six districts — Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Kozhikode, Kasaragod, Thrissur and Alappuzha — to identify land that meets the criteria set by the Centre and to submit detailed reports.

Accordingly, the Collectors of Kottayam and Kasaragod have identified 487.31 acres owned by Kerala Paper Products Ltd. (KPPL) at Velloor in Kottayam and 274.69 acres held by the Plantation Corporation in the Periya-Panayal region of Kasaragod as potential sites for AIIMS. The Thrissur Collector has reported that an AIIMS could be established in the district by acquiring and consolidating land of the Government Press, Vaiga Threads, and Koratty Government Hospital in Chalakudy taluk.

The reports submitted by the Collectors of Kottayam, Kasaragod and Thrissur are currently under the consideration of Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, the Minister said.

He said that while there was a suggestion that Pallippuram in Alappuzha might be a potential site, the Alappuzha Collector was yet to submit a report. The 660-acre Manakkal paddy land at Purakkad in Alappuzha has never come up as a possible AIIMS site but now that Mr. Sudhakaran had brought it up, a report would be sought from the Collector about the feasibility of the site for AIIMS, Mr. Muraleedharan said. The State government was hopeful that the AIIMS proposal for Kerala would come through soon, he added.