By IANS

Thiruvananthapuram : The central government has decided to set up a Rs.200 million ($5 million) state-of-the-art virology institute in Kerala, a senior state minister said here Monday.

"This institute has been on cards for several years. The union health ministry has now cleared it and it would be set up under the Indian Council of Medical Research," state Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy told reporters.

The institute would come up near the Alappuzha Medical College (120 km from here) at a five-acre plot of land.

"We are now waiting for the union health minister to formally inaugurate the institute, and for the time being it would function from the office of the State Virology Institute," said the minister.

The state government had stepped up its demand for this institute after chikunguniya hit the state successively in the last two years. According to official records, more than 300 people died of chikunguniya and thousands were affected.

"We have seen an elaborate Clean Kerala Programme launched and by now we have received Rs.600 million ($15 million) from the National Rural Health Mission for this programme. This is being distributed to 16,009 wards in the state and also to all government-run hospitals," added Sreemathy.