Guwahati, Feb. 9: Ayursundra Healthcare Private Limited, which has brought the first foreign direct investment in healthcare sector in the Northeast, has set its sights on the neighbouring countries for markets.

The 272-bed Ayursundra super-speciality hospital was inaugurated here today by health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and was graced by people from Ayursundra BV, based in the Netherlands.

Himadri Barthakur, executive director and spokesperson for the Ayursundra super-speciality hospital, told The Telegraph that the company has set its sights first on Bhutan and Bangladesh and later on Myanmar.

Sources said people, especially from Bhutan, come to Guwahati for treatment and there is a big scope for hospitals in the Northeast to attract people from these neighbouring.

Barthakur said the company has chalked out plans for the Northeast and will be setting up three super-speciality hospitals apart from 25 diagnostic centres. This apart, there will be a cancer hospital.

"We have already acquired land in Jorhat. Talks are going on in Shillong too," he said.

He said the hospital is the first in the Northeast to be JCI (joint commission international) compliant and is on its way to get accreditation too. The JCI is the world leader in healthcare accreditation.

Sarma said if this hospital became a success, the state would be making an impact in the health sector in the country. Around 10 to 20 per cent people from Assam and the Northeast go to hospitals outside the state for treatment.

"Though we are close to Bangladesh and other countries, we still do not have the ability to offer global standards and get patients from there. I am sure that in a decade's time, this hospital will be able to get patients from neighbouring countries," he said, adding that the hospital could be a centre of excellence.