The master plan for the redevelopment of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is finally on the fast track. Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad visited the country’s premier hospital on Monday evening and inspected the facilities there.

The plan has been on hold for more than six years.

The institute had submitted the plan to the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) last month for approval.

An AIIMS delegation comprising Director Dr RC Deka, Deputy Director Sailesh Yadav, Medical Superintendent Dr DK Sharma had held a presentation on the masterplan before the health minister in his office on Monday morning.

Sources said the masterplan — which is part of Vision 2020 aimed for the premier institute — was built during former AIIMS Director Dr PK Dave’s period. But things have started moving in the right direction only now.

To get a first hand account of the plan, Azad spent more than an hour in the hospital and inspected the premises with the director, deputy director and officials of the engineering department of the institute.

Representatives of Hospital Services Consultancy Company (HSCC) India Ltd, which is a part of the design team, were also present.

With the approval of the masterplan, the institute plans to renovate the old structures within the hospital premises and also the off-campus buildings like the staff quarters near Masjid Morh in South Delhi.

There is also a proposal to construct underground parking lots, a tunnel connecting

Safdarjung Hospital and AIIMS trauma centre, amphitheatre, swimming pool, etc.