Guwahati, Aug. 23: The Assam government will set up a state-of-the-art Ayurvedic medical college and hospital on a public-private partnership (PPP) venture.

An official source said the decision has been taken in the backdrop of the central government launching the National AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) Mission to provide cost effective quality AYUSH treatment.

He said the proposed Ayurvedic medical college and hospital will be established in order to give a boost to Ayurveda education in Assam and produce quality Ayurvedic doctors, which will also help overcome the shortage of medical practitioners in the state.

According to the source, the state department of health and family welfare has invited offers from interested and eligible private parties to set up the proposed hospital in the state through PPP.

"The state health department is also in the process of identifying a suitable site in and around Guwahati which shall be offered to the private partner for setting up the medical college and hospital on the design, build, finance and operate mode for a period of 99 years," he said.

"The setting up of the proposed medical college is expected to mainstream Ayurveda," the source said.

He said apart from offering land for the project, the state government would not make any investments in capital or operational costs of the project, which would have to be borne by the private partner.

According to the plan, certain percentage of total seats in the proposed medical college would be reserved for candidates qualifying in the national eligibility-cum-entrance test (NEET) and the common entrance examination (CEE) conducted by the state government every year or by any other method of such selection adopted by the state government.