In what is being described as the first project of its kind in Asia, Naresh Trehan, the well-known cardiologist and executive director of Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, is planning to build a 'medical city' in Gurgaon near Delhi.
"It will be called the Asian Institute of Medical Sciences and will be on the same lines as the Johns Hopkins Hospital in the US," Trehan told newspersons on the sidelines of the Confederation of Indian Industry's Annual National Conference, 2004.
"It is the first of its kind in this part of the world. There are a few in the US and one or two in Europe," sources close to the development told Business Standard.
To be spread over 50 acres, the complex will house a 2,000-bed multi-speciality hospital, a hotel, service apartments, a research and development centre, a medical college and a residential colony.
Though the exact investment is still being worked out, the medical city could easily cost upwards of Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion), the sources added.
As a result, Trehan is known to be looking at "major" foreign participation in the project. "What is certain is that it is not possible for one investor to put in all the money for the hospital complex. So there could be other investors as well," the sources said.
The proposed hospital will specialise in various therapeutic segments and not just in the cardiovascular area, for which EHIRC is renowned.
"It will be anchored by the Rajan Nanda-promoted Escorts Group, though the entire project is being driven by Trehan," the sources said. Nanda has identified healthcare delivery as a growth area for the future and is investing in a clutch of hospitals in the north.
The proposed project will cater to well-heeled Indians as well as foreigners who would be drawn by the comparatively lower price of treatment.
Trehan, who is the personal surgeon to the President of India since 1991, started EHIRC, a state-of-the-art heart institute located in south Delhi, in 1988. Over 35,000 open heart operations have been performed at EHIRC till date.
