Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation will establish a diagnostic centre in Nalasopara under a public-private partnership, with CT scans expected to be available at nearly half the rates charged by private diagnostic centres, according to the civic body’s medical department.
The facility is intended to provide CT scans, MRI examinations and other important diagnostic services at lower rates for residents of the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation area. The civic announcement comes as the region’s rapidly expanding population places additional pressure on its healthcare infrastructure.
Patients requiring advanced diagnostic examinations currently often depend on private centres because government hospitals in the municipal area do not have facilities for these tests, the report said. High charges at private centres can create a significant financial burden for economically weaker households and middle-class families, particularly when scans are required during serious or prolonged medical treatment.
The demand for a lower-cost civic diagnostic service had been raised by residents. The Congress party had also recently organised a protest seeking the availability of CT scans and MRI examinations at affordable rates through the municipal corporation.
A proposal to establish an advanced diagnostic centre at Nalasopara through the public-private partnership model was put forward in February 2025. The proposal was subsequently presented and approved at the second general body meeting held after the municipal election, according to the information reported by Loksatta.
Under the arrangement, the municipal corporation conducted a tender process and selected Krishna Diagnostic. The civic medical department said that an agreement has been executed with the selected operator. The available information does not specify the centre’s opening date, the full schedule of charges, the number of machines or the operating hours.
The PPP model places the project within the municipal corporation’s broader responsibility to expand access to healthcare services without requiring residents to rely entirely on private providers. For patients, the final impact will depend on whether the centre becomes operational as planned, which examinations are offered, how the rates compare with existing private charges and how easily residents can access appointments.
The Nalasopara facility also highlights a wider service-delivery gap in fast-growing urban areas: population expansion can outpace the creation of public diagnostic capacity. In such conditions, the absence of equipment in government hospitals shifts both the financial and logistical burden of essential testing to households.
The next formal step is the implementation of the agreement between Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation and Krishna Diagnostic. The civic medical department has not stated a public launch date in the information available.
