Chandigarh’s proposed medical hub has moved closer to a funding decision after UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria sought Rs 2,000 crore in central support for the planned 1,000-bed facility during a meeting with Union health minister JP Nadda in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The Regional Medical Hub is planned as an AIIMS-level institution in Sector 53, with facilities for super-speciality treatment, medical research and postgraduate education. Kataria also sought 36 additional postgraduate medical seats for Chandigarh’s medical college, according to the report.
The request for central assistance comes after the Union health ministry had asked the Chandigarh administration to examine whether the project could be financed through its own budgetary resources instead of external assistance or a central scheme. The administration is now seeking an expedited decision on central support.
The proposed facility is estimated to cost around Rs 2,154 crore. Of this, approximately Rs 1,704 crore is earmarked for civil infrastructure and Rs 450 crore for advanced medical equipment. The project is planned on a 10-acre site along Vikas Marg in Sector 53, while another four acres have been identified for residential and administrative facilities.
The medical hub is designed around two 500-bed components: a Women and Child Health Care Centre and a Super-Speciality Care Centre. The latter is expected to include trauma, cardiology, neurology and emergency-care services. The facility is also intended to expand research capacity and postgraduate medical education in the city.
The funding structure remains the key next step for the project. The health ministry’s earlier position that Chandigarh should explore financing the facility from its own budget places the proposed central assistance at the centre of the administration’s latest push. No approval for the requested Rs 2,000 crore was reported in the meeting details available.
Kataria’s meetings in Delhi also covered higher education and drug de-addiction. He sought Centrally Funded Technical Institution status for Punjab Engineering College and the appointment of a vice-chancellor under the University Grants Commission Regulations, 2018. In a meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah, he requested central support for rehabilitation, skill training and employment-linked assistance for people affected by drug abuse.
The Centre has separately approved Rs 19 crore for a Digital Museum at the Le Corbusier Centre in Sector 19 under the Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme. The project will convert Block B into a digital architectural museum with seven thematic galleries, virtual and mixed reality installations, holographic projections, interactive displays, a digital archive workstation, a reading lounge and a reference library. The existing rooms and workspaces associated with Le Corbusier and his team will continue as a conventional museum.
The next major milestone for the medical hub is a decision on the requested central funding and the financing route for implementing the Sector 53 project.
