Kolkata To Have A 'MediCity' Soon

EHM News Bureau

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, West Bengal Chief Minister is a happy man. After coming back to power with a thumping majority just few weeks back, top industrial houses are flocking to the state with mega projects be it, IT or healthcare.

Kolkata will soon have a 'MediCity' on the lines of the Medical City coming up in Gurgaon's National Capital Region. Dr Naresh Trehan, Executive Director, Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre disclosed this in the city recently. Trehan is also the chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry's National Committee on healthcare.

The Rs 940-crore healthcare hub with super-speciality units and a stem cell research centre will come up in and around the city in the next two to three years. "We have sought for 50 acres of land for the proposed MediCity, that will have a 1,000-bed hospital," said Dr Trehan. The plans for the project are being finalised. It will offer total organ transplant and reconstruction surgery apart from a range of specialised treatment, added Trehan. "It will have similar facilities like Gurgaon's MediCity, including 19 super-speciality units, a medical school and research units," he added.

"The land issue will be finalised in a couple of months. I am holding talks with a corporate group for the land," Trehan said without elaborating. He added that construction was likely to start in six months and would be completed in another two years.

Confirming the project, Dr Surya Kanta Misra, West Bengal Health & Family Welfare Minister said, "Trehan has told me he would approach us for land and we will definitely provide him the land."

The super-speciality units will include those for total organ transplant, cardiology and cardiac surgery, urology, nephrology, neurology, oncology and reconstruction surgery. Apart from the medical school, the hub will have training institutes for nurses and para-medics.

Trehan, who has a 51 per cent stake of USD 250 million (about Rs 1,170 crore) in the MediCity project, said research units would be set up, including those for stem cell studies. The Health-City will also have facilities to conduct research on homeopathic drugs, ayurvedic and alternative medicine.

Trehan's Health City is in the list of several mega private sector healthcare projects coming up in the State like Dhirubhai Ambani Health City in Kalyani, The Association of Hospitals’ Rs 20,000-core 'Health City' in the Southern fringes of the city. The Salim Group of Indonesia will develop the infrastructure and take care of maintenance. The Tatas are setting up a Rs 92-crore cancer facility in New Town, Rajarhat. The 150-bed super speciality hospital is the first project coming up outside Mumbai.