The foundation stone for a 2,000-bed medical block at the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in Hyderabad, India, has been laid.

Telangana Chief Minister (CM) K Chandrashekhar Rao laid the foundation stone for the Dashabdi Block, which will involve an investment of Rs15.7bn ($191.27m).

The project will increase NIMS' total bed capacity to 4,000, making it one of the largest hospitals in India.

Of the facility's beds, 200 will be part of a Super Specialty Mother and Childcare block.

State Health Minister T Harish Rao called the foundation stone-laying ceremony ‘a historic moment’.

He also highlighted the state government’s efforts in developing a 2,100-bed health city in Warangal.

Rao noted that four 'super speciality' hospitals were being built at Gachibowli, LB Nagar, Alwal and Erragadda in Hyderabad. 

CM Chandrashekhar said the number of beds at NIMS had already increased from 900 to 1,500 since the state of Telangana was formed.

In addition, he officially inaugurated the expansion of the KCR Nutritional Kits distribution programme across all districts.

The Nutritional Kit distribution programme aims to safeguard the health of pregnant women and promote the healthy growth of unborn babies.

The CM also commended the services provided by the Gandhi hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic and emphasised the importance of the health department becoming a top department in the state.

He added that with health being a priority of the state, budgetary allocations for the sector had increased from Rs2.1bn to Rs12.3bn over the past nine years.

Plans for the new medical block at NIMS were announced last month by Deccan Chronicle, Siasat and other regional media outlets.

Telangana authorities are also building four 1,000-bed TIMS super-speciality hospitals in Hyderabad, as well as upgrading Gandhi Hospital and the Warangal Hospital.

These projects aim to ensure patients have access to at least 10,000 super-speciality beds.