Vyara (Gujarat), Sep 22 (PTI) Torrent Group’s philanthropic arm, UNM Foundation, inaugurated a 317-bed transitional hospital and broke ground on an 800-bed medical facility in Vyara on Tuesday, launching a public-private healthcare and education project aimed at serving tribal communities in South Gujarat and neighboring Maharashtra.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel inaugurated the new facility and performed the ceremonial groundbreaking, or Bhoomi Poojan, for the larger hospital building, which will eventually replace the district’s existing 156-bed General Hospital, the foundation said in a statement.
The project, developed under a public-private partnership with the Gujarat government, also includes plans for a 150-seat MBBS medical college.
Vyara, the headquarters of Tapi district, sits roughly 75 kilometres from Surat, the nearest major city with advanced medical care – a distance the project’s backers say has long forced patients from tribal areas to travel far for treatment.
The redeveloped transitional facility, built within the existing hospital campus, will house patients and services while the new 800-bed hospital is constructed, so care continues without interruption.
The initiative is backed by an estimated outlay of roughly Rs 910 crore, funded entirely by UNM Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Mehta family, Torrent’s promoters.
The foundation already runs cardiology, pediatric and neurorehabilitation institutions in Ahmedabad and Surat, alongside education and ecological restoration programs across Gujarat.
Gujarat’s Tribal Development Minister Naresh Patel and Minister of State Jayram Gamit also attended the inauguration.
Jinal Mehta, Director of Torrent Group, framed the project as a long-term commitment to the region: “The inauguration of the UNM transitional facility and the Bhoomi Poojan for construction of new UNM General Hospital, is the beginning of a new chapter in healthcare for Vyara and the surrounding region. The transitional facility ensures that patients continue to receive uninterrupted care while we build an 800-bed hospital and a 150-seat medical college, offering advanced treatment and affordable medical education for the people of the region”.
The new transitional facility spans 9,986 square metres and includes 271 ward beds and 46 critical care beds. Outpatient capacity has roughly doubled, from about 700 to 1,200 patients a day across 24 OPD rooms and 17 specialities. The facility adds four operating theatres, 34 ICU beds, 12 NICU/PICU beds, an eight-bed dialysis unit and new diagnostic and blood-storage infrastructure.
The project positions UNM Foundation as a significant private player in India’s push to expand tertiary healthcare access in underserved tribal regions, an area where public infrastructure has historically lagged. By pairing hospital capacity with a planned medical college, the initiative also aims to address physician shortages in rural Gujarat by training local students who might otherwise leave the region for medical education.
The foundation says the project will benefit close to 8,00,000 people once complete, with construction of the 800-bed hospital and medical college expected to proceed in phases following Monday’s groundbreaking. No completion timeline was specified in the announcement. PTI ANZ BAL
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(PTI News)
