IOC major partner to Tata Medical Center expansion

 Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), a major supporting partner for expansion of the Tata Medical Center at Rajarhat near here, has offered Rs 66 crore in phases toward the Rs 200 crore project.

"We are going for the second phase expansion soon and IOC is supporting the cause in a big way. They (IOC) have offered Rs 66 crore in phases toward the project. We hope to complete the expansion over the next 24 months," Tata Medical Center Deputy Director V R Ramanan said.

IOC has disbursed Rs 14 crore toward the expansion for 250 beds and state-of the-art cancer care medical equipment.

"The total estimated cost for the second phase is Rs 200 crore," CFO S K Agarwal said.

Tata Medical Center, the only super speciality cancer hospital in eastern India offered affordable oncology treatment. It opened 30 months ago and is funded and managed by trusts under the Tata group.

"We are offering treatment and diagnostics at an average price which is around 40 percent lower. Our business model offers free and subsidised cost to 50 percent patients," hospital Senior Medical Administrator Aseem Mahajan said.

Ramanan said the hospital wanted more corporate assistance. It is facing a deficit of Rs 1 crore a month for running the 165-bed first phase built at a cost of Rs 350 crore.

SBI has offered the single largest CSR exposure of Rs 6 crore for part funding a PET-CT scan machine to the hospital.

SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya on her first visit to city toured the hospital and expressed her intention of continuing support to such initiatives.

Source:http://zeenews.india.com/business/news/companies/ioc-major-partner-to-tata-medical-center-expansion_95782.html