In a bid to upgrade tertiary healthcare infrastructure and provide quality medical education, the government will upgrade 13 institutions in the country at a cost of Rs.15.6 billion, it was announced Thursday.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, with an eye on underserved states like Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

The other states are Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh - and in some of them more than one institution will be upgraded.