VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Chief minister N Chandrabau Naidu hoped that Amaravati will turn health tourism hub with the kind of facilities and investments lined up in the health sector in the region. He laid foundation stone for Indo-UK Institute of Health (IUIH) Medicity on Wednesday at Yerrabalem in Mangalagiri by unveiling a plaque through remote control at a programme held in the city.He said that the IUIH Medicity will come up at a cost of Rs 1600 crore and in the first phase a worldclass hospital with 1,000 acres will come up in 50 acres of land. He added that in total government will allot around 150 acres for IUIH Medicity in phases where both nursing school, paramedics, and research centres will also come up.Naidu further said that around 20 medical colleges will come up in Amaravati region and the state government has been giving utmost importance to health sector for the wellbeing of the people. He said since health care is expensive in Europe, patients from the region will come to Amaravati in future.The IUIH programme was included as a commercial announcement in the Joint Statement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's visit to the UK in November 2015. The announcement included the proposal for 11 new UK Indo Institutes for Health in India which, when fully implemented, would amount to investment in the region of Rs 17600 crores into India's healthcare system, accompanied by strategic clinical and training partnerships with the UK's finest National Health Services (NHS) organisations, universities and private sector companies Each Medicity is planned to include a 1000 bed hospital in close partnership with one of the UK's leading NHS hospitals "The Indo UK Institute of Health (IUIH) has a vision to provide integrated healthcare across India by 'partnering with global leaders' in research, education, technology, manufacturing and healthcare delivery. One of the first IUIH Medicity at Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh, is being developed in association with King's College Hospital, London, with an investment outlay of Rs 1600 crores," said IUHI groud CEO, Dr Ajay Rajan Gupta,Healthcare UK and the Department for International Trade (DIT) India are supporting IUIH with its plans.'The NHS is considered to be the best integrated healthcare system in the world. Through IUIH we are excited to bring to India the UK's expertise in training, innovation and clinical delivery that make the NHS one of the world's very best healthcare systems. This ambitious project will see NHS standards of care supporting the healthcare needs of the people of Andhra Pradesh. We hope that this collaboration will lead to closer working between our two countries in the healthcare sector." British High Commission's, Deputy Director, Trade, Economics & Prosperity, in India Jane Grady said.

Stay updated with all the Latest Vijayawada headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.