Mumbai: The BMC’s Improvement Committee on Tuesday approved a proposal to hand over the sprawling SevenHills Hospital campus at Marol to Capri Global Ventures Pvt Ltd, with the Shiv Sena-BJP-led ruling panel pushing through the proposal amid strong objections from Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress members.The proposal first came up before the committee in May but was neither approved nor rejected. Following a heated debate, it was referred back to the civic administration for reconsideration.During Tuesday’s meeting, the same proposal was tabled again, with opposition members questioning both the need for a private operator and the manner in which the proposal was processed. However, Shiv Sena corporator and chairperson of the committee Sandhya Doshi passed the proposal without any further comments being made by the civic administration.Congress’s Ashraf Azmi alleged that work had already begun at the hospital before the proposal received statutory approval. “We have learnt that the company with whom the BMC has entered into a lease agreement has already started work at the facility. How can such a move be allowed without the approval of the statutory committee?” Azmi asked.Capri Global emerged as the successful resolution applicant for SevenHills Healthcare Pvt Ltd (SHPL) through the insolvency process and will receive equity-based support from Reliance Foundation, which manages H N Reliance Hospital at Girgaum.The proposal authorises the execution of a fresh lease deed with SHPL, now under Capri Global’s ownership, enabling the hospital to continue under the original public-private partnership (PPP) model. It provides for a 30-year lease, extendable by another 30 years, for nearly 66,688 sq m of BMC-owned land at Marol in Andheri (East), where the hospital is located.Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Sachin Padwal said elected representatives from Andheri and Marol had consistently demanded that the civic body itself operate the hospital instead of handing it over to a private entity. “No private hospital reserves beds for the common public. SevenHills is a centrally located hospital that should be developed and run by the BMC. The corporation has enough funds to build and operate such a facility, especially when it is spending thousands of crores on major infrastructure projects,” he said.Congress corporator Raja Rahebar Khan sought a site inspection before the proposal was cleared. “Allegations being made by Azmi are very serious. If that is true, how could work begin without the Improvement Committee’s approval? A site visit should be conducted before any decision is taken,” he said.Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Vishakha Raut also opposed the move, arguing that the BMC had sufficient financial resources to run the hospital. “The health department has a large budget, so why involve a private party? SevenHills played a crucial role during the Covid pandemic by treating patients, and the BMC ran it very well. Why should prime BMC land be handed over?” she said.Civic officials had said the revival of SevenHills Hospital is expected to significantly augment Mumbai’s public healthcare infrastructure by bringing a long-defunct mega hospital back into operation while preserving the quota of subsidised treatment for BMC patients under the PPP model.Under the approved resolution plan, SevenHills Hospital will be redeveloped as a 1,500-bed not-profit tertiary care hospital. The new promoter has agreed to honour the conditions of the original 2005 contract and the 2013 memorandum of understanding, including reserving 20% of operational beds — 300 beds — and 20% of OPD services for BMC patients, with treatment, medicines and diagnostic tests provided at civic rates.
