An ambitious plan to convert hospitals run by the Central Government-owned port trusts into super speciality hospitals on a public-private-partnership (PPP) model beginning with Mumbai Port Trust has flopped. The Port Trust received a solitary bid for upgrading its hospital at Wadala.

The D Y Patil Group was the lone bidder for the project estimated to cost Rs 693 crore, a Shipping Ministry official said adding that the Mumbai Port Trust had extended the timeline for bid submission multiple times over the last eight months to attract more bidders.

While many major hospital chains and private equity firms had shown initial interest in the project, all of them had backed out without putting bids. “We were also trying to get the Tata Trust to participate in the tender, but they also backed out due to concerns over taxation,” the official said.

In November 2018, Nitin Gadkari, who was holding the Shipping portfolio at that time, had unveiled plans for a 600-bedded super speciality hospital to provide improved health facilities to some 45,000 port employees (including pensioners) and dependents by converting the present 241-bedded port hospital into world-class super speciality hospital on PPP basis.

The successful PPP operator also had the option of setting up a medical college as part of the project spread over 10 acres.

The DY Patil-Mumbai Port Trust PPP

The D Y Patil Group, which runs educational institutions and hospitals in Maharashtra, is promoted by veteran Congress strongman D Y Patil who quit the Indian National Congress (INC) to join the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in December 2018.

Mumbai Port Trust is currently scrutinising the technical bid submitted by the D Y Patil Group ahead of opening the price bid.

“If the price bid of D Y Patil Group is within the expectations of Mumbai Port Trust, the bid stands a chance of getting approval from the port authority despite being a single bid,” the ministry official said.

The winning bid, according to the tender would be decided on the basis of revenue share- the entity willing to share the most from its annual gross revenue will win the 30-year contract, which can be extended by a further 30 years.

A Government appointed a panel headed by Medical Council of India (MCI) member Ved Prakash Mishra, had recommended that hospitals run by port trusts can be upgraded to super speciality hospitals and medical colleges in a report submitted in 2017.

The plan was opposed by the port workers unions.

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