NEW DELHI: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday said it will provide Rs 100 crore loan to hospital chain Medanta for healthcare services and medical equipment to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The project will support the purchase of personal protective equipment, basic hygiene products, and patient care equipment such as ventilators and beds.
It will also support staff training programmes on infection prevention and control. "Private sector healthcare services play a life-saving role during health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic," said Aniruddha Patil, Head of Health and Education Investments at ADB's Private Sector Operations Department.
Patil said that Medanta's proven expertise and leadership will further improve the resilience of India's health system, enabling it to respond effectively to the current crisis and future healthcare challenges. Naresh Trehan, Global Health Chairman and Managing Director of Medanta said the partnership with ADB will meet its financing requirement.
Global Health Pvt Ltd operates and manages hospitals across India under the Medanta brand with a total operational capacity of about 2,000 beds. "The financing will help us focus on increasing healthcare capacity to satisfy the strong Indian demand for both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 related treatment," Trehan said.
The debt financing by ADB is part of a USD 20 billion assistance package announced by the multi-lateral funding agency in April 2020 to help its developing members manage the pandemic.
The funding complements ADB's sovereign support to India, including a USD 1.5 billion loan approved in April last year for COVID-19 containment and prevention, and social protection for poor and economically vulnerable communities such as women.
Global Health Private Ltd has four Medanta multi-super-specialty hospitals in Gurgaon, Lucknow, Indore, and Ranchi, with out-patient services in Patna which started in 2020. It also has three clinics at Delhi Airport, South Delhi, and DLF Cybercity. Its flagship hospital Medanta - The Medicity Gurugram, has over 1,300 beds, including 246 critical care beds.