In Focus

In God's Own Country

The Rs 1,500-crore DM MediCity is coming up on a sprawling 35-acre land on the banks of Periyar river, says Express Healthcare

The beautiful port city Kochi, dubbed as the 'Queen of the Arabian Sea', also happens to be the commercial and industrial hub of the state of Kerala. The city with a population of 2.2 million attracts foreign tourists by the drove for its scenic backwaters, coconut-fringed beaches, Chinese finishing nets, multi-hued historical past and its cosmopolitan culture. So, a mega health city of global standards in such a popular destination becomes a project of national significance.

The health city— DM MediCity— is coming up in a sprawling 35-acre land on the banks of Periyar river. This is the second upcoming Greenfield project of DM Healthcare Private Limited, a JV between Dubai-based Dr Moopen's Group and private equity firm India Value Fund Advisor. DM Healthcare is also constructing Aadhar Hospital, another 150-bed Greenfield project in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra.

Location

"Medcity will be woven around an anchor tertiary/quaternary care institute supported by several centres of excellence in clinical and allied services" - Anupam Verma CEO DM Healthcare, India

"After completing land acquisition for the project, we are now going ahead with the master plan and related activities to start construction this year" - Dr Azad Moopen Chairman Dr Moopen's Group

The DM MediCity is coming up at Cheranellur, North West of Kochi, with close proximity to NH 17 and 47. Located around 25 kilometres from the airport, the site is close to the proposed Container Terminal Road, the project that would lead to expansion of the port and would also reduce the distance from airport to the site.

Said Dr Azad Moopen, Chairman, Dr Moopen's Group and DM Healthcare, "We have recently completed land acquisition for the project and we are going ahead with the master plan and related activities to start construction by this year itself."

Project Details

The first phase of DM MediCity with 500 beds would consist of one million square feet built up space. This phase having privileges like hotel, medical convention centre and residential apartments is built at an estimated cost of Rs 500 crore (exclusive of land cost) and is expected to be commissioned by 2012.

Explains Anupam Verma, CEO, DM Healthcare, India, "MediCity will be woven around an anchor tertiary/quaternary care institute supported by several centres of excellence in clinical and allied services. Acclaimed and established national and international healthcare players would be invited for association in the centres of excellence. Medicity will forge partnership with international healthcare bodies to bring in global accreditation, systems and protocols, technical expertise and acceptance."

The project, when completed, would have two million square feet built-up area. "The total cost of the project when completed is estimated to be Rs 1,500 crore. Other centres of excellences to be built up with international healthcare brands would be completed in various stages over the next 10 years," informs Dr Moopen.

It's not decided yet whether DM Healthcare would build the first phase and then look for partnership or vice versa. It's also undecided whether the centres of excellence would be run by other groups solely or as a JV with DM Healthcare. "We are exploring all possible business opportunities," says Verma.

And who would be the target clientele? "With cutting edge technology and experienced medical professionals, DM MedCity envisages to become one among the top 10 healthcare destinations in the world, providing the best available treatment in the state attracting large number of patients from other state in India as well as becoming a destination for international patients to avail quality healthcare at affordable cost," says Verma.

DM Healthcare is in the process inking an MoU with an US-based internationally-acclaimed healthcare architectural firm to design, plan and execute this project. There shall be employment opportunities for about 5,000 people in the first phase and 15,000 people in the completed project.

The actual site

Why Kochi?

Asked for reasons to freeze in on Kochi, Dr Moopen says, "Kochi has been gaining recognition world-wide due to its improving connectivity. It has witnessed remarkable progress in areas like tourism and IT sector. A similar enhancement and facelift of healthcare delivery system is the need of hour and demands sincere effort from concerned entities. This emanates from historical recognition of Kerala for health tourism with the healing nature, requirement of health value travel in illness related areas, availability of well trained healthcare professionals in the state and NRI professionals wanting to relocate helping a reverse brain drain. These positives drawn from geographical location, global recognition, consumer demand, availability of supportive services makes Kochi a preferred destination."

Advantage MedCity

A medicity scores over a mega hospital project in more ways than one. "There are many good hospitals in the state, but still there are many treatment modalities that are not available here. This points to the requirement for an institution which can be on par with any internationally renowned healthcare institutions in advanced treatment facilities. There is a growing population in India looking for state-of-the art facilities provided by international healthcare standards. Medicity would establish a suitable platform to bring in international healthcare brands to India and assimilate that knowledge locally," says Dr Moopen.

Medicity will provide suitable resources to bring in international brands to conduct clinical and equipment research and manpower training, besides being an integrated platform where specialised brands of world can come in and add to the 'attractiveness' of India as a preferred medical destination.

healthcare@expressindia.com