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Tatas to set up cancer hospital in Kolkata

Special Correspondent

Kolkata: The foundation stone for a 150-bed Tata Medical Centre — a cancer hospital and a centre for frontier research — was laid by West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Tuesday.

Mr. Bhattacharjee said not only West Bengal, but also `seven sisters' of the North-East and patients from Bangladesh would be benefited by this hospital. He said that alongside its efforts to improve the Government hospitals, the West Bengal Government was trying to improve healthcare facilities through the public-private partnership model.

The Tatas would invest Rs. 120 crore in this project where 50 per cent of the beds would be reserved for the under privileged.

The TMC would be modelled on the 65-year-old Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai and supported by the newly created Tata Medical Centre Trustthrough funding from three Tata trusts besides group companies.

Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata said his respect and admiration for Mr. Bhattacharjee had increased his attachment for the State. Mr. Tata said that according to statistics given by the Tata Cancer Hospital in Mumbai, over 24 per cent of the 2.3-lakh patients attended to by the hospital annually, are from the eastern and the north-eastern region. "Through early detection, I hope this hospital will save lives," he said. Work on the project, for which 10 acres has been allotted in New Town Rajarhat, would be completed by December 2007.

Mr. Tata said that he felt emotionally compelled to look [for investments] at segments other than industries.

To a question as to the possibility of similar projects elsewhere in India, he said: "We are not in the business of cancer hospitals."

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Tatas to set up cancer hospital in Kolkata

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