BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to provide quality healthcare services and attract investment in the sector in the priority districts, the State Government has formulated a new investment promotion policy.
The Odisha Healthcare Investment Promotion Policy-2016 envisages promotion of private sector investment in the healthcare sector through strategic partnerships besides policy interventions.The policy aims at ensuring improved access and affordability of secondary and tertiary healthcare services. It will provide impetus for growth of private sector healthcare investments to ensure alignment with public health goals and enable making healthcare systems more effective, efficient, rational, safe and ethical.
The new healthcare policy, which will remain in operation for a period of five years until substituted by another policy, will also promote establishment of healthcare institutions for best-in-class infrastructure and technology in healthcare delivery in 11 priority districts.
A senior health official said the Government has identified Balangir, Boudh, Gajapati, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangapur, Nuapada, Rayagada and Sonepur as priority districts.
“The districts will be accorded all the incentives provided as per the Industrial Policy Resolution-2015 for healthcare sector investments and treated at par with the priority sector investments. The policy would also provide incentives and exemptions in conjunction with any other applicable existing policy of the State and the Centre,” he said and added that an investor may choose a particular provision from either this policy or any other policy but not both.
Enterprises intending to establish healthcare facilities as part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) will be encouraged for development of hospital projects. All incentives, support and assistance under the policy will be applicable for eligible hospital projects to be developed with minimum 50 beds and above.
According to a resolution issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department, subsidy will be provided on capital investments made in the hospital projects. However, the subsidy will not be provided on investments made towards cost of land, working capital and operative expenses.
An existing hospital in the priority districts which upgrades into a multi-speciality hospital or a super speciality hospital will also be eligible to avail incentives on additional capital investments for the expansion of the same line as available for setting up new hospitals, provided the new capacity expansion has at least 50 per cent additional beds of the existing strength and the existing capacity is of at least 100 beds.