The Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) has fixed February 2016 as the deadline by when to start its kidney transplantation facility.

The hospital administration claims it has completed 80 per cent of the work for starting the facility, which includes construction of twin modular operation theatres and intensive care units among others.

IGIMS medical superintendent Prabhat Kumar Sinha on Thursday told The Telegraph: "Installation of an air conditioning system in the kidney transplant unit, awarding tenders to some private companies to procure heart-lung machine and other equipment for the operation theatre are among the pending works."

Sources said the health department team had earlier visited the hospital in the month of June and pointed out various deficiencies for starting the facility.

The team had visited the health hub as any hospital, government or private, willing to start organ transplant facility, has to first get a licence from the state government.

"The health department's team had raised an objection regarding the operation theatre of the under-construction kidney transplant unit. We now have twin modular operation theatres wherein this is possible. The health department's team had also raised an objection about the air-conditioning system," said Sinha.

Sources said the starting of the kidney transplant unit at IGIMS is one of chief minister Nitish Kumar's many ambitious projects. Due to the model code of conduct, the pace of construction work of the kidney transplant unit had taken a beating, but the work has now been expedited on the chief minister's instruction.

The development is significant as none of the state-run or private hospitals have the facility. People are forced to go to Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI), Lucknow, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, among others wherein they spend something between Rs 5 to 7 lakh to get the transplantation done.

Sources said IGIMS has qualified doctors who can conduct kidney transplantations.

A doctor at the nephrology department of the hospital, preferring anonymity, said: "Apart from me, there are two kidney specialists from SGPGI, Lucknow, who have the experience to conduct kidney transplantations. Our colleagues who live in small cities in other states conduct kidney transplantations. We could not do the same as the hospital did not have the necessary infrastructure. We are happy that the hospital would finally be equipped with necessary infrastructure for starting the facility."

Sources said work at centrally air-conditioned outpatient department is also in progress at IGIMS and should be completed by February next year.