Coinciding with the completion of 100 days of the Narendra Modi-led government, Dr Jitendra Singh, Union minister of state (Independent Charge) for science and technology formally announced the decision to collaborate on behalf of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi for establishing a National Cancer Institute at Jhajjar in Haryana.

The project is to come up at the cost of Rs 2,000 crore and the DBT will offer major inputs for cancer research and care. Addressing a heavily attended press conference, Dr Jitendra Singh, announced the setting up of a Joint Research Advisory Body, which, he claimed, would be possibly the best in the world.

The minister said this joint initiative between the health ministry and AIIMS is a part of the ministry's endeavour to use Science and Technology as a medium of service to the society and to promote new technologies at affordable and cost effective prices.

"The Biotechnology department under him will help medical researchers design clinical trials and collaborate for joint development and evaluation of vaccines, biomarkers, therapeutics, etc.," stated Dr Singh.

In addition, the minister also announced the setting up of a major new institute under the Department of Biotechnology for "Pre-term Birth" Research Clinical applications. This will be his department's major support to medical science considering the fact that India, with its highest number of pre-term births and the highest number of pre-term deaths worldwide, contributes 25 percent to the global pre-term related deaths, he added.

Dr K Vijay Raghavan, secretary of science and technology and biotechnology, was also present at the conference.