Centre approves Rs 650 crore cancer hospital in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The Centre in collaboration with Tata Trust will establish a state-of-the-art cancer hospital along with a skill development centre for oncology treatment at the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) campus in Jatni.

This was informed by Union Education and Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan after a meeting with Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh and senior officers of Tata Memorial Centre in New Delhi on Tuesday. Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi also attended the meeting.

The hospital will come up with an investment of Rs 650 crore. While the Centre would contribute Rs 400 crore for the project, Tata Trust will spend the remaining Rs 250 crore.

In line with PM @narendramodi’s vision the cancer care hospital & skill development centre at @niser_official will strengthen treatment facilities, scale up competencies & initiate high-quality research to meet emerging requirements in the field of oncology, Pradhan said on a Twitter post on Tuesday.

While NISER has already earmarked 17 acres of land within its campus for the purpose of a cancer hospital, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship will provide another 10 acres, Pradhan said.

Tata Trusts will undertake the construction of the hospital and allied infrastructure. The hospital will be handed over to the Central government after its construction, targeted to be completed within three years.

Pradhan said a skill training centre by the Ministry for skilling and capacity building of the medical staff to be set up in the proposed hospital.

The proposed medical institute will provide research in advanced cancer care, Pradhan said.

Earlier, Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi had taken up the issue with the Centre in February 2020 for setting up a hub of Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) for cancer treatment and research in the state.