Centre to Set up a 500-bed Cancer Hospital in Kolkata at a Cost of Rs 563 cr

The Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India has agreed to set up a 500-bed cancer hospital at New Town, Rajarhat in Kolkata. The Ministry and the West Bengal Government had planned to jointly set up the second campus of the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute (CNCI) in New Town, Rajarhat.

The Centre's plan to set up a cancer hospital at New Town, Rajarhat close to the Tata Medical Centre, the Tata Group's newly set up cancer facility might turn Kolkata into a cancer treatment hub in the East. The decision to open a second campus of the Institute was conveyed to Jaydip Biswas, Director, CNCI at a meeting held in New Delhi recently with Sudip Bandopadhyay, Union Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare and other senior Health Department officials. Sources indicate that the new hospital would come up at a cost of around Rs 563 crore. “The Centre will provide 90 per cent of the infrastructure capital and 80 per cent of the recurring and maintenance costs. The hospital will house both research and treatment facilities and will have 500 beds,” said Bandyopadhyay.

“It will have a 24-hour emergency department, something that is lacking in the CNCI's existing facility in south Kolkata. The Rajarhat campus will also have facilities to treat patients with nuclear medicine,” Biswas added. Apart from a main building with all sub-specialities of oncology, the Rajarhat campus will house a nursing college, a centre for rehab medicine, quarters for doctors and nurses and shelters for patients’ relatives.

“Once work starts, we plan to finish the construction within two-and-a-half years from now,” said Bandyopadhyay. The first phase, comprising 300 beds, should be completed in two-and-a-half years (from now) and the remaining 200 should be ready by 2017,” the Minister said.

EH News Bureau