March 29: A super-speciality medical project of GNRC Hospitals has received a shot in the arm with a Bangalore-based venture capital fund picking up a stake in the organisation.
Canbank Venture Capital Fund Ltd, Bangalore, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canara Bank, is investing Rs 20 crore in the city-based hospital group.
The investment, raised as venture finance from Emerging India Growth Fund, a Rs 500-crore fund managed by Canbank Venture, will be used to part-finance the setting up of a 1,000-bed super-speciality hospital at Amingaon in north Guwahati.
“The funds will be used to part-finance our upcoming project in the first phase. The project cost, which includes modernisation and expansion in subsequent phases, is currently estimated to be nearly Rs 92 crore. In the first phase, a 300-bed facility is being planned. We plan to increase the capacity to 500 beds in the second phase and to 1,000 in the long run,” an official source said.
The hospital is coming up on an 80-bigha plot in the Amingaon-Gauripur area, around 30km from here.
“At present, we only have an outpatients’ clinic on the premises, which started functioning in October last year. The construction of the clinic began in May last year. Around 10 doctors from various departments treat 40-50 patients everyday at the clinic. An inpatient department will be set up in the next two-three months,” he said. “As of now, we have not set any completion date for the project.”
A leading healthcare provider in the Northeast with an annual turnover of Rs 85 crore, GNRC Ltd has two tertiary care hospitals (GNRC Dispur and GNRC Six Mile) with a capacity of 215 beds.
Set up in 1985, GNRC specialises in neurology, neuro-surgery, physical medicine and rehabilitation. After tying up with Escorts Hospital for cardiac surgeries, it is also recognised as a destination hospital for cardiac care.
The hospital also extends services in cardio-thoracic surgery, orthopaedics, radiology and imaging sciences, pathology, neonatology, rheumatology and obstetrics and gynaecology.
The medical facility at north Guwahati, an emerging area that houses frontline educational institutions such as IIT Guwahati, apart from other institutions and industries, will cater to patients residing in not just the northern part of the city but those from Darrang, Goalpara, Barpeta, Nalbari and rural Kamrup as well.
“The very objective of this hospital is to maintain quality (in healthcare services) and bring down cost with a subsequent increase in footfall,” GNRC Hospitals chairman and managing director Nomal Chandra Borah said.
“We feel there is no dearth of patients but constraints of affordability prevents them from coming to private hospitals,” he said. “With the Canbank Venture Capital Fund Ltd on board, GNRC realises a lot of value addition which would catapult the company to a higher trajectory.”
The project is being planned in such a way that the cost of civil construction is kept at Rs 1,500 to 1,600 per square feet. The hospital will have technologies such as PET scan, MRI, cath lab and CT scan, among others.
“We are designing the facility as a green building and all steps have been taken to make it environment friendly. It has also been designed so that it consumes minimum energy for its operations. There is no dormitory. Each patient will be provided with a small cubicle, along with a cot for an attendant. That is in addition to the private wards. Locally available material such as bamboo will be extensively used for heat insulation, sound-proofing and adding aesthetics to the architecture,” Borah said.
