Country’s first medical city to come up in Pune rural

The state government is hoping to attract investment worth more than ₹10,000 crore for the project. A 300-acre land parcel in Pune’s Khed taluka has been identified for the same

PUNE Deputy chief minister and finance minister Ajit Pawar during his budget speech on Friday declared that the country’s first medical city will be set up in the Pune district’s rural area. Named ‘Indrayani Medicity’, it will not only provide medical education and research facilities, but also all kinds of specialty treatment under one roof.

The ‘Indrayani Medicity’ will have about 24 separate hospital buildings, each housing one department. The Medicity will not only benefit Pune but will also be useful for people from neighbouring districts who come to the city for better treatment. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

The state government is hoping to attract investment worth more than ₹10,000 crore for the project. A 300-acre land parcel in Pune’s Khed taluka has been identified for the same.

The Medicity will have about 24 separate hospital buildings, each housing one department. The Medicity will not only benefit Pune but will also be useful for people from neighbouring districts who come to the city for better treatment.

There will be medical education and research institutes, and treatment will be provided at affordable rates to citizens. The proposed Medicity will have separate departments for trauma critical, heart disease, kidney, brain disease, dentistry, paediatrics, ophthalmology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, urology, haematology, organ transplantation, gynaecology, cardiology and psychiatry and separate super-specialty hospitals will be set up for all departments such as cancer, AYUSH etc. Pawar said that this would be the first-of-its-kind city in the country. The Medicity will be set up by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA). The entire facility is likely to have over 10,000 to 15,000 beds.

Member of Parliament (MP) Amol Kolhe who represents the constituency of Shirur and who insisted on the project, said, “The model will be developed through a public-private partnership (PPP) with an investment of over Rs10,000 crore. We thank the government for this. This one-of-its-kind medical city will not only help the people of Pune but also those coming from neighbouring areas. During the pandemic, we saw many people rushing to the city to get better treatment and so, with this centre coming up soon with all kinds of specialty and super-specialty treatment under one roof and where citizens will be charged as per the CGHS rates, it will be a great push for Pune’s medical tourism and the district’s overall public health development.”

An official from Pune Zilla Parishad on condition of anonymity said, “Since it is a PPP model, the government would facilitate the investment by initiating an investment vehicle. Government expenses would be on subsidies if any and DPR cost.”