Ratan Tata flags off "emotional" investment
Business Standard — February 23, 2006

The Tata group today kicked off its "emotional" investment in West Bengal with the laying of foundation stone for the Rs 120 crore Tata Medical Centre. The chief minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, and Tata group chairman, Ratan Tata, unveiled the foundation stone of the centre on a 10-acre plot at Rajarhat in Kolkata. The Tata Medical Centre was slated to be completed by December 2007 and would have 150 beds as well as an outpatient and ambulatory care facility for patients suffering from cancer.

The outpatient block would be built in two phases and would cover a total area of 42,872 square feet. Tata Medical Centre would be set up along the lines of the Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai. Speaking at the ceremony, Tata said this was the start of the group's contribution to the eastern part of the country. He commended the achievements of Bhattacharjee and said he was emotionally attached to West Bengal mainly because of the chief minister whose sincere efforts had made it the state that it was today.

He added that he was not making the statement lightly given what the state had achieved from what it was. Attached to the hospital, the medical centre would have a world-class research unit where apart from treating patients a centre of excellence could be created. The Tata Medical Centre would be supported by the Tata Medical Centre Trust and Jamsetji Tata Trust and Tata group companies.

Around 50 per cent of the beds would dedicated to the poor. The centre would have a strategic alliance with the Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, to plan, commission and assist the operations of the new hospital and ensure excellence. R K Krishnakumar, director of Tata Sons, said that by this gesture, the group, which had significant assets and projects, was making an emotional investment. He added that a telemedicine network with Tata Medical Centre, particularly to serve the north-eastern states, would be set up.

Speaking on the occasion, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said that the Tata group had asked for six more acres for the Tata Medical Centre, over and above the plot allocated. Ratan Tata clarified that the additional land would enable the 150-bed to grow in an organised manner. The architecture and design of the centre would be undertaken by the architect firm of Cannon Design.