Largest Indian PPP in Healthcare to be Inaugurated by Odisha Govt Today
M Neelam Kachhap
The government of Odisha will launch India's largest PPP project in healthcare today. This flagship project of the govt. of Odisha involves developing 25 hospitals in public private partnership (PPP) mode across the state. The hospitals will be developed as 100 or 200 bed greenfield facilities. The government of Odisha will provide grant funding in the form of viability gap funding (VGF) during the construction period ranging between INR 140 million-510 million, depending on the size and location of the project. A source close to the development said, "For the first time in our country (other than funding Capex through VGF) we have been able to convince the state govt to fund operational losses for 5 years; including loan repayments during this tenure to maintain DSCR)." This will usher in a new era of PPP in healthcare in India.
The amount of VGF requested will be the basis of selection of the private partner during the bid process. The govt. of Odisha has recently launched the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, a social health insurance program that provides health insurance cover of upto INR 700,000 per family per year and covers nearly 70 % of the state's 42 million population.
The world Bank and IFC are advising the Odisha govt on this project. Medica Consulting led by Aynabh Debgupta, is the project consultants to the World Bank and IFC.
