City’s new health hub: New Town, promise of easy connectivity attract investors
Telegraph | 26 March 2025
New Town is fast emerging as Calcutta’s new health hub, riding the same advantages that put EM Bypass in a similar spot two decades ago.
The availability of encroachment and encumbrance-free, regular-shaped land and the promise of easy connectivity are driving healthcare investments toward that part of the city.
State government sources said more than 60 acres have been allocated for healthcare facilities — both private and government — across the township over the past few years.
There are already more than 1,000 private healthcare beds operational in New Town, said sources in Hidco, which provides most of the land for healthcare projects in the township.
Several thousand are scheduled to come up, the source added.
Hospitals off EM Bypass, some of which were set up a couple of decades back, now have more than 4,000 beds, said healthcare industry sources.
Many of these hospitals were smaller in size and have added beds over the years. Some of the hospitals are still adding beds.
“If we travel back in time, we see that the healthcare infrastructure in Calcutta was once dominated by quality government medical colleges in the central part of the city. Larger private establishments found their footing in the city’s south,” R. Venkatesh, group COO, Narayana Health, told Metro.
“As Calcutta expanded beyond its southern fringes, EM Bypass emerged as the preferred location for significant private healthcare setups. This transformation was driven by the availability of large plots of land at affordable rates, supported by the development of public infrastructure for housing, education, and transport. The late 1990s and early 2000s witnessed the southern bypass blossoming into a healthcare hotspot, stimulating the economy of the surrounding areas,” said Venkatesh.
The Narayana Health’s first hospital, RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, started operations in Mukundapur, off EM Bypass, in 2000.
“In the present day, Calcutta’s growth trajectory is oriented northwards, with New Town emerging as the epicentre of the state’s development and progress. A similar phenomenon is unfolding, with housing, education, and industry all finding a new hub in this burgeoning area. With such rapid growth, it is only natural that the relevant healthcare infrastructure is also being established in New Town to further propel its development,” he added.
Among the big projects coming up are a 1,100-bed quaternary care hospital by Devi Shetty’s Narayana Health, a 600-bed hospital of Belle Vue Clinic and a 650-bed multispeciality unit of Disha Eye Hospitals.
According to Venkatesh, ample open spaces, backed by strong government initiatives, will ensure that New Town becomes a centre of excellence for healthcare in the eastern region, driven by the necessary support infrastructure.
Prashant Sharma, chairman of the national healthcare committee of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, concurred.
“In the 1980s, the first private hospital cluster grew in the Alipore area. In the 1990-2000s, EM Bypass got the second hospital cluster. Now we’re witnessing the third cluster coming up with 4,000 beds expected in New Town in the coming few years.”
Peerless Hospital was one of the first private hospitals off EM Bypass, set up in the early 1990s.
“It is a nine-acre plot. Then it was impossible to get a plot of land of that size within the city,” said Sudipta Mitra, chief executive of Peerless Hospital. “Also, EM Bypass was easily accessible for patients from both within the city and the airport,” he said.
Now, New Town has that same advantage.
Belle Vue Clinic has a nursing college for 650 students already functional in New Town. An eye hospital with 75 beds and a paramedical college for 300 students is coming up on the two-acre plot with a 10-storeyed building. The hospital group has another multispeciality hospital behind Hidco Bhavan on a two-acre plot with 600 beds.
“Construction will start within three months and will be completed in phases. It will be fully commissioned in five years,” said Pradip Tondon, CEO of Belle Vue.
“We started having expansion plans outside the Loudon Street hospital in 2016-17. Then such big plots were not available in the city. So New Town was the obvious choice. Also, the connectivity is good because of the proximity to the airport,” said Tondon.
Disha Eye Hospital’s ₹300-crore project of 650-bed multi-speciality hospital is on the verge of completion, said Debasish Bhattacharya, chairman of Disha Eye Hospitals.
The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) officials said there were several factors behind New Town emerging as the new health hub.
“Ready availability of reasonably priced land with firm rights and title from the state government and regular shapes and sizes of land parcels were big advantages. Architects can plan better, unlike in the old city,” said an NKDA official.
“Encroachment and encumbrance-free land is also a big attraction.”
New Town is located between the main city and the airport. “Many hotels and guesthouses are coming up, which can provide accommodation to patients and their relatives,” the NKDA official said.
The NKDA sanctions building plans for hospitals in a few weeks after all clearances are received, he said. “We help in getting sanctions for fire services and environment departments.”