Hyderabad: A consortium led by Wipro-GE Healthcare Pvt Ltd and Medall Healthcare has won a project from the Andhra Pradesh Government for refurbishing and equipping four public hospitals to offer diagnostics and services at competitive prices.

The consortium, which won a competitive bidding, will invest in refurbishing and building facilities, installing equipment, and providing services. The State Government will pay for all patients referred by hospitals at rates quoted by the winning bidder.

These rates are highly discounted to market rates for similar services.

Wipro-GE is a joint venture between Wipro Ltd and General Electric, a global leader in medical equipment. Medall runs advanced diagnostic services in several Indian cities.

The agreement was signed between the consortium, the State Government and four teaching hospitals last week.

Of the five pre-qualified, experienced firms in the healthcare sector, three submitted bids. In addition to the winning consortium, these included Apollo Healthcare Enterprise Ltd (Apollo Group) and Vijaya Diagnostics Private Ltd.

IFC guidance

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has provided advisory work to the AP Government in the project that intends to also offer advanced diagnostics services to low- and middle-income people. It has extended its global expertise for structuring and implementing public-private partnership transactions to assist the Government on this project, a release said here.

IFC was appointed by the State Government last November to offer advice on upgrading diagnostic services at medical colleges in Kakinada, Kurnool, Visakhapatnam, and Warangal through private participation.

“IFC's advice and global experience is helping us set in motion a larger effort to leverage private sector for improving public health systems. With IFC's guidance we have been able to conclude the bidding process in a record time frame,” said Mr J. Satyanarayana, Special Chief Secretary for Health, Medical and Family Welfare, Government of Andhra Pradesh.

Mr Paolo M. Martelli, IFC Regional Director for South Asia, said, “Making high-quality healthcare services affordable and accessible for under-served groups is top priority for India. PPPs offer an avenue to achieve this objective and IFC is delighted to be able to contribute toward this goal.”