A building in GT Hospital, which has been lying unused for sometime now, will house the superspeciality facility.

The proposal is to start nuerology, nephrology, cardiology, urology and plastic surgery departments, among others, in the hospital, according to More Patil, officer on special duty, Directorate of Medical Education and Research. The hospital, to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 45 crore, will deal only with cases related to these specific fields of medicine. Complex surgeries and operations -- which are mostly expensive ones too -- will be undertaken at the superspeciality hospital. The state government mooted the plan mainly to facilitate the Jeevandayi scheme, according to Patil.

The idea is to start a 300-bed hospital in the building with 10per cent of its services provided free of cost to poor patients. As of now, the only such hospital in Maharashtra is in Nagpur.

Preliminary steps for starting the hospital have already been taken, with the government authorising Mumbai-based Hosmac Consultancy to carry out a feasibility study which will focus on the hospital's infrastructural needs, the maintenance cost and rates for services. The study will also decide whether private sector investment should be invited and specify the guidelines for recruitment and management of staff.

The study is an essential requirement to get World Bank aid and is being carried out at an estimated cost of Rs 2.99 lakh. It will be completed in two to three weeks.

In any case, the government is determined to finish the project whether the World Bank aid materialises or not, claims Patil. For this, alternative proposals have already been chalked out; the government's contingency plan is to shoulder the financial burden and carry out the construction work in phases.The second is to set up an independent corporation to specifically look after superspeciality hospitals, and it will also deliberate upon the financial details of the proposed complex.

Since the structure for the hospital is already in place the project is expected to be completed in a short time of around six months. This particular building -- with ten floors plus two mezzanines -- had been plagued by various problems from the very start. It had no electric and water connections. The government's proposal to let private parties run a hospital in the building fell through after no one showed any willingness to pay a rent of Rs 75 lakh per month for the entire building.

Now, most of the obstacles have been removed. An electric sub-station has been set up and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation will ensure that water is supplied before work on the project starts, according to Patil. The only requirement is the medical equipment, which will be bought after the feasibility study is completed.