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By:

Rajendra Joshi

3 December 2024 at 3:50:26 am

Procurement first, infrastructure later

Procurement at multiples of market price; equipment before infrastructure; no accountability Kolhapur: Maharashtra’s Medical Education and Public Health Departments have been on an aggressive drive to expand public healthcare infrastructure. Daily announcements of new centres, advanced equipment and expanded services have reassured citizens long denied dependable public healthcare. Procurement of medical equipment, medicines and surgical supplies is reportedly being undertaken at rates two to...

Procurement first, infrastructure later

Procurement at multiples of market price; equipment before infrastructure; no accountability Kolhapur: Maharashtra’s Medical Education and Public Health Departments have been on an aggressive drive to expand public healthcare infrastructure. Daily announcements of new centres, advanced equipment and expanded services have reassured citizens long denied dependable public healthcare. Procurement of medical equipment, medicines and surgical supplies is reportedly being undertaken at rates two to ten times higher than prevailing market prices. Basic economics dictates that bulk government procurement ought to secure better rates than private buyers, not worse. During the Covid-19 pandemic, equipment and consumables were procured at five to ten times the market rate, with government audit reports formally flagging these irregularities. Yet accountability has remained elusive. The pattern is illustrated vividly in Kolhapur. The Dean of Rajarshi Shahu Government Medical College announced that a PET scan machine worth Rs 35 crore would soon be installed at Chhatrapati Pramilaraje (CPR) Government Hospital for cancer diagnosis. But a comparable machine is available in the market for around Rs 6.5 crore. A senior cancer surgeon at a major cancer hospital in western Maharashtra, where a similar machine was recently installed, remarked that the gap between what his hospital paid and what the government is reportedly paying was enough to make one ‘feel dizzy’. The label of a ‘turnkey project’ does not adequately explain a price differential of this magnitude. High Costs CPR Hospital recently had a state-of-the-art IVF centre approved at a sanctioned cost of Rs 7.20 crore. Senior fertility specialists across Maharashtra note that even a modern IVF centre with advanced reproductive technology equipment typically costs between Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 3 crore. The state’s outlay is reportedly approaching Rs 15 crore. Equipment arrived in June 2025 and lay idle for months owing to indecision about the site. Similarly, digital X-ray machines approved for CPR Hospital and a government hospital in Nanded; available in the market for roughly Rs 1.5 crore; were reportedly procured at Rs 9.98 crore per unit. Doctors in CPR’s radiology department, apprehensive about being drawn into potential inquiries, reportedly resisted accepting the equipment. One departmental head was transferred amid disagreements over signing off on the proposal. What’s Wrong These cases point to a deeper structural failure: Maharashtra has perfected what might be called the ‘equipment first, infrastructure later’ model. In any public hospital, the administrative sequence ought to be: identify space, create infrastructure, sanction specialist posts, and only then procure equipment. Compounding the procurement paradox is a parallel policy decision. On 20 December 2025, the state government decided to introduce radiology diagnostic services through a Public-Private Partnership model (PPP). Following this, an order issued on 6 February 2026 authorised private operators to provide PET scan, MRI and CT scan services at six government medical college hospitals: in Pune, Kolhapur, Miraj, Sangli, Mumbai and Baramati. CPR already has a 126-slice CT scan machine and a 3 Tesla MRI scanner, with another CT scan proposed. If the PPP arrangement proceeds, the hospital could simultaneously run one PET scan machine, two MRI scanners and three CT scan machines. Medical experts warn this could lead to unnecessary diagnostic testing simply to keep machines occupied, thus exposing patients to excess radiation while government-owned equipment gathers dust. A similar pattern was seen during the pandemic, when the Medical Education Department spent hundreds of crores on RT-PCR machines, only to award swab-testing contracts to a private company. Many of those machines remain unused today.

Infrastructure Divide

Updated: Jan 2, 2025

As Delhi’s metro network snakes further underground, the capital is racing ahead of its peers, showcasing the transformative power of foresight and execution. By contrast, Mumbai and Pune—India’s financial and IT powerhouses—remain mired in delays and inefficiencies. The discrepancy is glaring, and Devendra Fadnavis, now back at the helm as CM, must seize the opportunity to bridge this infrastructure gap.


Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has set a benchmark in urban transportation, making strides that go beyond mere expansion. Tunnelling achievements, such as the record-breaking 3-kilometer drive between Derawal Nagar and Pulbangash, highlight Delhi’s capacity for meticulous planning and execution. These feats contrast sharply with Mumbai’s slow-paced and beleaguered Metro Line 3 and Pune’s faltering progress on Line 3 of its own metro network.


Mumbai’s infrastructure woes extend far beyond its metro. Pothole-ridden roads turn monsoons into a commuter’s nightmare, and the absence of pedestrian-friendly footpaths is a glaring oversight in urban planning. The city’s authorities seem adept at launching grand projects but falter in execution, leaving the public to grapple with half-baked solutions. The same malaise afflicts Pune, where Metro lines 1 and 2 have been completed, but the pivotal Hinjewadi–Shivajinagar corridor remains behind schedule.


Delhi’s success with its metro, widely regarded as a model of urban transit, offers lessons that Maharashtra must urgently heed. Political will and effective leadership are paramount. When Delhi’s first metro line launched in 2002, it was underpinned by meticulous planning. Crucially, it maintained this momentum over two decades.


Maharashtra’s metro projects have been marred by inflated budgets, legal disputes, and poor planning. A lack of pedestrian-friendly infrastructure further discourages usage. Such oversights reflect a systemic failure to prioritize commuters’ needs.


Fadnavis’s return to power presents a chance to turn this around. His first tenure as Chief Minister (2014–2019) saw the conceptualization of several infrastructure projects. Now, he must prioritize their delivery. Streamlining bureaucratic processes, enforcing accountability among contractors, and ensuring better inter-agency coordination will be key.


Mumbai and Pune cannot afford to lag any longer. Both cities are critical to India’s economic aspirations. Mumbai, as the country’s financial capital, needs a robust transport network to sustain its global competitiveness while Pune must upgrade its infrastructure to keep attracting investment and talent. Both cities face stiff competition from regional peers like Bengaluru and Hyderabad, which are making strides in urban mobility.


More than just engineering marvels, efficient metro systems are economic enablers, reducing traffic congestion and improving quality of life. Delhi’s metro has shown how transformative such projects can be. There is no reason why Mumbai and Pune cannot follow suit. For Maharashtra’s metros, the time to act is now.

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