The government of Tamil Nadu has proposed a second medical college in Virudhunagar, a district that is home to 56,000 employees of the fireworks industry of Sivakasi. This announcement was made by the state government on Tuesday, December 13. Sivakasi city is known for its fireworks, firecracker, matchbox and printing industries. The city alone meets about 90% firecracker requirements of India.

The medical college will be established under the ESIC (Employees' State Insurance Scheme) and the estimated cost to establish this medical college is around Rs 150 crore, as per a report by IANS. 

The Labour Minister’s office of Tamil Nadu said in a statement that the government has already forwarded the proposal for this medical college to the central government. The district administration of Virdhunagar has already communicated to the government that they have found over sixteen acres of land that is required for setting up and constructing a medical college campus in Sivakasi. The medical college will exclusively cater to the needs and treatment of the victims of accidents in the manufacturing factories in the city. The statement also said the hospital will have all the facilities required for treating injuries related to fireworks accidents, as reported by IANS.