UP to boost health sector, will set up 7 hospitals

In a major push to investment in the health sector, the Uttar Pradesh government has invited proposals from the private sector for setting up seven super specialty hospitals in the state.

Each hospital will cost around Rs 180 crore and will have 500 beds. The government plans to complete the hospitals in three years.

As announced in the Service Sector Investment Policy, approved by the cabinet today, the government will also extend several tax benefits to the investors.

They include exemption of stamp duty on registration of land for the hospital and relief from trade tax on the purchase of equipment and machinery.

"The government has decided to adopt a transparent process, similar to the global bidding for mega projects, for the selection of the investors," Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh said today.

The role of the government will be strictly of a facilitator without any financial participation.

"UP has to keep pace with infrastructure development and therefore these hospitals have to be set up at the earliest. At present, apart from the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, there are no super specialty hospitals in UP and people have to go to Delhi for specialised treatment," Singh added.

According to the policy, seven super specialty hospitals will be set up in Agra, Lucknow, Azamgarh, Jalaun, Bijnor, Saharanpur and Ambedkar Nagar.

Singh said the investor would decide whether or not to set up a medical college along with the hospital.

He said in view of the resistance by the farmers against land acquisition in several states, the investor would procure the land through direct negotiations with the farmers. The state authorities will intervene only if the need arises. The government will arrange for the clearance for the investors from various state authorities like the forest and environment departments.

The private hospitals will provide free treatment to 25 per cent of the patients. Of these 10 per cent will be from the SC/ST category and the remaining will be below poverty line card holders, freedom fighters, ex and sitting MLAs.