Mamata Banerjee might have driven Tata out of West Bengal decades ago to come to power in the state. However, the movement against the Nano car manufacturing unit is now a thing of the past and the chief minister said her government would tie up with the Tata Group to set up two cancer hospitals in the state.
“One of them would be at Kolkata’s SSKM hospital, the other one would be in North Bengal,” said Banerjee. She said the proposed hospitals would be set up as a joint venture of the state government and the Tata Group.
The chief minister noted that around 25 per cent of the cancer patients in West Bengal go to Mumbai for treatment. So, she said, the government decided to talk with the Tata Group to bring their expertise to the state.
This is for the first time the chief minister has decided to join hands with the Tata Group since the group’s exit from Singur. The suspension of Tata’s small car company in Singur had affected West Bengal dearly as no major big-scale investment came to the state since then. Banerjee’s decision would clear some misgivings, perhaps, felt an industrial body in Kolkata.
However, even as the chief minister said that 25 per cent of cancer patients go to Mumbai for treatment, the Tata Memorial hospital in Mumbai is no more a Tata-owned super specialty hospital. In fact, the Tata Cancer Hospital in Kolkata is a fully-owned Tata establishment.
India’s 65 per cent cancer patients are from the eastern part of the country. So, Tata decided to build a 500-bed hospital in Kolkata not only to cater to West Bengal, but the entire eastern region including Northeastern states. Patients from Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar also come and get them treated in this cancer hospital.
Contacted, Mammen Chandy, director of Tata Memorial Hospital, told THE WEEK, “I have no information about such a development. So far as our hospital in Kolkata is concerned, it is doing very well.”
Banerjee did not disclose at what level the discussion has been going on or whether final settlement has been arrived or not.