Bangalore, Karnataka -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/17/2012 -- By the end of 2013, Devi Shetty's hospital chain Narayana Hrudayalaya will add two more hospitals in Bengal - one each in Siliguri and Bolpur.
The hospital chain has already made its presence felt in the state with two medical facilities - Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences in Kolkata and a tie-up with IQ City Health & Knowledge Campus in Durgapur.
"For the Siliguri project, we are in the final stage of getting the building plan sanctioned, while the Bolpur project is in an advanced stage of planning and discussion," said Devi Shetty on Saturday.
Construction of the Siliguri project will start by August 2012 and it will involve an investment of Rs 16 crore. Investment for the Bolpur project will be Rs 15 crore.
Emphasizing the need for a proper healthcare system in the country, Shetty said: "We need one million doctors, two million nurses and three million beds to address the need of proper healthcare in the country. Bu we are far away from that target." Shetty also predicted that the cost of healthcare will decline significantly with time.
In July 2011, Shetty had met chief minister Mamata Banerjee and had proposed to set up more hospitals in rural Bengal with the state government. Asked about progress of the plan, he said: "They (state government) are moving briskly. But it is going to take time." He added that like all state governments, the Bengal government lacked the technical knowhow to set up hospitals in partnership with the private sector.
Regarding fire safety norms in hospitals, Shetty said it was one of the most important things that hospital authorities needed to ponder over. "We are extremely cautious about fire safety."
The hospital chain is going to manage and run the hospital in the IQ City Health & Knowledge Campus, said Bipin Vohra of SPS group, a promoter of IQ City.
Sanjay Jhunjhunwala of Mani Group, another promoter of IQ City, said the first phase of the 50 acre hospital and medical college project will be over by 2012-end. "It would entail an investment of Rs 450-500 crore. The second phase will come up in the next three years depending on the prospect of the first phase."