Model contract for privatising urban health care

Terms of agreement give private players 30-year lease over parts of government district hospitals

Niti Aayog and the Union ministry for health and family welfare have proposed a model contract to increase the role of private hospitals in treating non-communicable diseases in urban India. The agreement, which has been shared with states for their comments, allows private hospitals to bid for 30-year leases over parts of district hospital buildings and land to set up 50- or 100-bed hospitals in towns other than India’s eight largest metropolises.

According to the model contract, the district hospitals will need to share their back-end services such as blood banks and ambulance services with the private players. The state government