- This is the single largest contribution by any organisation to TMC
- The money will be utilised to set up three new state-of-the-art blocks at TMC hospitals in Maharashtra, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh
- The fund will also equip the new buildings with state-of-the-art medical facilities
- Will double the capacity of patients to get advanced oncology treatment
NE BUSINESS BUREAU
MUMBAI, JUNE 3
ICICI Bank on Friday announced a commitment to contribute Rs 1,200 crore towards Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), a premier institution that runs cancer treatment and research centres across the country.
ICICI Bank will donate the money from its CSR funds to set up three new buildings spanning over a combined area of 7.5 lakh square feet and equip them with state-of-the-art machines at TMC’s centres at Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra, Mullanpur in Punjab and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
With the largest contribution from any institution to TMC, ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth (ICICI Foundation), the CSR arm of ICICI Bank, will implement the initiative, which is likely to be completed by 2027.
With modern equipment and specialised multidisciplinary teams, these new centres of excellence in oncology treatment will provide advanced and evidence based therapies to nearly 25,000 new patients a year, doubling the present capacity and providing a significant boost to the country’s cancer treatment infrastructure.
ICICI Foundation has signed an agreement with TMC to express this commitment. Sanjay Datta, President, ICICI Foundation and Dr RA Badwe, Director, Tata Memorial Centre signed the agreement in the presence of Girish Chan Chaturvedi, Chairman, ICICI Bank and Sandeep Batra, Executive Director, ICICI Bank.
Chaturvedi also inaugurated the ICICI MRI Facility on Friday at Tata Memorial Hospital at Parel in Mumbai in the presence of Dr Badwe and Batra. This facility is equipped with an advanced MRI machine supported by ICICI Foundation.
Speaking on the occasion, Girish Chandra Chaturvedi, Chairman, ICICI Bank, said: “ICICI Bank has a long-standing legacy of being in service of the nation. In line with this philosophy, ICICI Foundation has been working continuously to improve the well-being of citizens through its various initiatives in the areas of environmental conservation, skill development for sustainable livelihood, affordable healthcare and community development projects. Over the years, ICICI Foundation has planted over 2.6 million trees across the country, created capacity of harvesting 17.1 billion litres annually of rainwater at 5000 rural schools and watershed structures, implemented rooftop solar panel for rural schools, benefitted more than 2.9 million lives through skilling initiatives, with more than half being women. It has also benefitted over 6.5 million individuals through its social initiatives and over 1.5 million lives through its healthcare initiatives. Overall, ICICI Foundation has positively impacted more than 10.9 million beneficiaries through its various initiatives.
Today, we are committing Rs 1,200 crore for building three new blocks at TMC’s centres at Navi Mumbai, Mullanpur and Visakhapatnam by 2027. As part of our commitment towards promoting healthcare, this initiative will enhance comprehensive cancer care services in different regions of our country by providing patients access to advanced and latest cancer therapies. These new buildings will also service as regional referral centres and mitigate the need for patients to travel long distance to visit Tata Memorial Hospital at Parel in Mumbai.”
Adding on the occasion, Dr RA Badwe, Director, Tata Memorial Centre, said, “We are extremely grateful to ICICI Foundation for embarking on one of the largest CSR initiatives to improve cancer care across the country. The infrastructure which is being added at the three hospitals of Tata Memorial Centre at Navi Mumbai, Visakhapatnam and Mullanpur will provide timely and high quality treatment to people in the region at highly subsidised costs. It is critical that advanced cancer care is delivered closer to home so that more people from the region benefit from accessing such therapies.
The radiation therapy block at ACTREC, Navi Mumbai will play a vital role in not only providing timely radiotherapy to a large number of patients, but will also be delivered with the most advanced techniques, both of which are critical for a successful outcome. Childhood and adult blood cancers are highly curable but require very intense therapies. The ICICI centres being established at Visakhapatnam and Mullanpur are dedicated children and blood cancer centres and will provide state-of-the-art multidisciplinary care. These centres will soon become regional hubs offering advanced therapies such as bone marrow transplant and cellular therapies to patients from the region.”
