A new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Jharkhand was the biggest takeaway from the Union Budget 2017-18, but the medical fraternity is upset that the prestigious hospital is likely to come up in Deoghar and not capital Ranchi.

"Two new AIIMS will come up in Jharkhand and Gujarat," said finance minister Arun Jaitley while presenting the budget on Wednesday.

The state government has identified vast chunks of land in Deoghar's Devipur for the new AIIMS.

In 2014, then Hemant Soren-led state government had proposed to the health ministry to consider an AIIMS in Jharkhand, without specifying a place, to a positive response from the newly formed BJP government at the Centre.

The new Raghubar Das government proposed to set up AIIMS in Deoghar where it identified 278 acres in Devipur block already acquired for industrial use.

Doctors objected to Deoghar as the site, holding out for the "more accessible Ranchi", but the Das government did not budge.

On Wednesday, though both Jharkhand State Health Services Association and Indian Medical Association (Jharkhand) welcomed an AIIMS in Jharkhand, they reiterated their objections to Deoghar and said they would request the state government to rethink.

Dr Bimlesh Kumar, general secretary of Jharkhand State Health Services Association, said he agreed Santhal Pargana - where Deoghar falls - needed a big hospital. "But, AIIMS should come up in Ranchi," he stressed. "An AIIMS site should be well connected by road, rail and air. Also, as AIIMS will also be a teaching hub, it must be in a city where well-known specialists should want to relocate and stay."

IMA state secretary Dr Pradeep Kumar Singh called Deoghar an impractical choice. "AIIMS should come up in Ranchi."

But, it does not seem that the state health minister will listen. "We will open AIIMS in Deoghar only," minister Ramchandra Chandravanshi told The Telegraph. "It is sheer foolishness of intellectuals to stop development of underdeveloped areas. If we do not open AIIMS in Deoghar, Santhal Pargana will stay underdeveloped. We are expanding the aerodrome in Deoghar. By the time AIIMS comes up, Deoghar will be a vibrant city. I request people, especially doctors, not to object to this wonderful opportunity."