Cash crunch delays GMCH cancer equipment purchase
Nagpur: The district administration on Monday informed the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court that it was unable to arrange the additional Rs25 crore required for the procurement of a Linear Accelerator for the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). This was due to the exhaustion of available funds and an escalation in equipment costs.
A division bench comprising Justices Avinash Gharote and Abhay Mantri then asked the Maharashtra govt to inform how it would arrange the remaining funds of Rs22 crore needed to purchase the new Linear Accelerator used for treating cancer patients. The bench pointed out that while Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar GMCH has two such machines, Nagpur has none, thus affecting the cancer patients.
The bench was hearing Suo Motu (PIL) No. 1/2023, initially filed by CH Sharma and others, which shed light on the grim state of medical facilities in Vidarbha. It expressed strong displeasure over administrative inertia that stalled key improvements in public healthcare.
In an affidavit filed by Atul Doad, District Mining Officer and collector's authorised representative, it was submitted that despite repeated directions from the court, the necessary funds could not be sourced from the District Planning Committee (DPC), District Mining Fund (DMF), or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reserves. Doad stated that although Rs23.20 crore was sanctioned by the state govt in 2018 for purchasing the Linear Accelerator, the cost has now doubled to around ₹45 crore due to inflation, customs duties, and associated maintenance expenses.
The affidavit detailed that Rs52.52 crore was already released from the DMF to GMCH for various projects between 2019 and 2024, while another Rs53.13 crore and Rs28.49 crore were sanctioned by the DPC for GMCH and Super Speciality Hospital works during the 2023–24 and 2024–25 financial years, respectively. As per the affidavit, currently only Rs3.29 lakh is available from the CSR fund, with an additional Rs25.58 lakh reserved as per earlier court directions, leaving insufficient resources for the Linear Accelerator's procurement.
Referring to a previous court order dated February 19, 2024, Doad acknowledged that the cost escalation primarily stemmed from a 34.64% increase in customs duty and other taxes, and about Rs5 crore earmarked for a five-year maintenance contract. The affidavit pointed out that earlier delays, procedural bottlenecks, and miscommunications about the procurement status further exacerbated the funding crisis.
Given these constraints, the collector's office conveyed its inability to contribute the additional Rs25 crore from district-level funds and sought further directions from the court. The affidavit emphasised that administrative approval for the escalated cost would now have to come directly from the govt.
The court had earlier urged both the state authorities and the amicus curiae to explore potential waivers of customs duties to reduce the financial burden, noting the urgency of securing the Linear Accelerator for public health purposes.
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