New Delhi : India has helped Nepal and Bhutan to set up medical colleges, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare P. Lakshmi said the B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan, with a 350-bed hospital, was set up with Indian assistance worth Rs.120 crore (Rs.1.2 billion).

She said the institute, which offers 100 medical seats, was formally handed to Kathmandu in 1999. Ten of its seats are earmarked for Indians in the MBBS course.