A proposal for construction of a new trauma care centre at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Pondicherry was approved by the cabinet committee on economic affairs here Thursday.

The committee also approved the setting up of a 360-bed super speciality block at JIPMER. The entire project including the trauma care centre and the super speciality block would be complete at a cost of Rs.1.84 billion, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said.

He added that the project will result in JIPMER becoming a multi-disciplinary teaching and treatment centre, apart from reducing the fatality rate in road and other accidents.

The project would be executed on a turnkey basis through an agency selected on the basis of open competitive bidding, he said.