Patna, June 30: The Medical Council of India (MCI) today gave the permission to Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) to start MBBS course from the current academic session. With 100 seats, it would be the maiden autonomous health cradle in the state.

The MCI sent the letter of permission to IGIMS through an email today. Confirming this, IGIMS director Dr Arun Kumar told The Telegraph that it was a momentous day in the history of the institution as the efforts of the IGIMS team, including dean, sub-dean and faculty members, had paid off.

The medical college at IGIMS — a 450-bed tertiary health hub, has been approved by MCI under Section 10A of MCI Act (amended) with an “autonomous” tag. The letter of permission says that the “permission would be renewed annually on verification of achievement of annual target set in the project report submitted by the institution”.

The letter further reads that the process of annual renewal of permission would continue till the establishment of the medical college and expansion of hospital facilities were completed as per the norms of the MCI.

Sources said most probably a separate national level pre-medical test would be conducted soon because according to the MCI guidelines the admission process has to be completed by August 30.