Budget for AIIMS project at Madurai escalates to Rs 700 crore; Nirmala Sitharaman blames TN Govt

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the 'budget' for the proposed AIIMS hospital at Madurai in Tamil Nadu escalated by Rs 700 crore since land acquisition was delayed and that the state government should take the blame for it.

Speaking on the debate on the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman, amid slogan shouting by DMK members said the budget for the proposed hospital went up from Rs 1,200 crore to Rs 1,900 crore since land acquisition was delayed by Tamil Nadu.

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The DMK members shouted "Eppo" in Tamil demanding to know when the hospital would be built. The minister replied in both English and Tamil. Sitharaman said, hence, the state government should take the blame and the Centre cannot be targeted for the delay. At the same time, during coronavirus pandemic, she said site inspections could not happen and as a result, they (the state government) could not speed up the work.

"I can understand the difficulty of the state government....," she said adding she had "more facts" on Tamil Nadu and wanted the members to watch the television, even as some of them were staging a walkout apparently protesting against her.