Lucknow, Aug 25 (IANS): Six medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh will be developed in a phased manner as super-speciality centres, union health ministry officials said Monday.

The medical colleges in Agra, Kanpur, Meerut, Jhansi, Allahabad and Gorakhpur will be developed on the lines of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.

Sources said Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who is an alumni of the Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Medical College (GSVM) in Kanpur, has asked to speed up the process.

A special financial package of Rs.150 crore has been sanctioned for GSVM in Kanpur.

Harsh Vardhan, who was on a day-long visit to Kanpur Sunday, said the ministry was committed to improving healthcare in the country and Uttar Pradesh was a priority state.

"Uttar Pradesh has a large population and the pressure of tackling diseases is more," Harsh Vardhan told IANS.

The union government will provide 80 percent of the funds to the Kanpur medical college, while the rest will be contributed by the state government.