Odisha proposes to set up two medical colleges

Odisha Channel Bureau Bhubaneswar, July 4: Odisha Government has proposed to establish medical colleges with 100 seats each and associated hospitals with 500 bed capacity in Rayagada and Gajapati districts through the Public-Private Partnership mode.These projects are the first medical college projects in the country to have been approved by Central Government for Viability Grant Funding (VGF) support, according to an official release.The estimated project cost is approximately Rs.330 crore for each location, of which 40 per cent cost would be admissible as VGF support to be shared equally between Central and State Governments.To promote these projects and encourage wider participation by a larger number of private partners, the State Government organised an Investor Meet at Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad on Friday.The meet was attended by national level chains such as Manipal Hospitals, Hi-Tech Group, JIS Group, MNR Educational Trust, LACFI, Hamdan Group-Abu Dhabi, CHAI, New Life Hospital, Universal Empire Group, Apollo Institute of Medical Science, Abengoa, Baxipatra Trust, and GSL Trust, the release said.Leading project financiers and private equity associations too participated in the investor meet.Chairing the meet, Health & Family Welfare Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak outlined some of the other health sector initiatives that the State Government has taken up through PPP mode and stressed that these have been planned as a convergent action plan to spread the impact especially for the poor.The role of technical assistance agencies like DFID, IFC, Ernst & Young, etc was appreciated in widening the PPP portfolio in the State.Speaking on the occasion, Health & Family Welfare Secretary Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra reiterated the significance of the proposed medical colleges and the State’s commitment in terms of making available requisite land, associated infrastructure like road connectivity, power and water linkages.