BMC's 30-Year PPP Plan For 490-Bed Bhagwati Hospital Faces Congress Opposition

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) decision to hand over the 490-bed Shri Harilal Bhagwati Hospital in Borivali to a private operator under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model has triggered fresh opposition, with the Congress demanding cancellation of the tender and the BJP seeking transparency over beds reserved for municipal patients.

Former Mumbai Congress president and MLA Bhai Jagtap and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Adv. Sandesh Kondvilkar have written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide, demanding immediate cancellation of the tender. They questioned why the administration revived the proposal despite reportedly scrapping it in August 2025 following strong opposition.

The BMC floated the tender on October 26, with November 16 as the deadline for bids. Under the proposed arrangement, the hospital will be operated by a private partner for 30 years, while ownership of the building and land will remain with the civic body.

The 490-bed facility will have 90 ICU beds, nine advanced operation theatres, a catheterisation laboratory, MRI and CT scan facilities. The private operator will be required to invest at least Rs 150 crore and pay the BMC a minimum annual rent of Rs 6.56 crore. At least 50% of the beds will be reserved for BMC patients and beneficiaries of government healthcare schemes.

Congress leaders, however, questioned the financial arrangement, claiming that the civic body would receive only around Rs 6.5 crore annually while potentially paying approximately Rs 60 crore towards treatment of eligible municipal patients. They also raised concerns over restrictions on eligibility for subsidised treatment.

Separately, BJP Mumbai Municipal Corporation House Leader Ganesh Khankar has written to the Municipal Commissioner and Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) Prajakta Verma-Lavangare, demanding installation of digital screens at the entrances of all PPP-run hospitals. These should display real-time information on total beds, BMC-reserved beds, occupied and vacant beds, and treatment facilities available to municipal patients.

Social organisations have also opposed the PPP approach. The Aspatal Bachao and Nijikaran Hatao Kriti Samiti, a coalition of over 25 organisations, along with municipal employees' unions and health activists, had organised protests and public meetings against privatisation of civic hospitals in 2025. They argued that outsourcing could make affordable public healthcare inaccessible to economically weaker patients and replace free services with paid treatment. Unions also cited studies indicating that treatment rates at some PPP hospitals were two to 25 times higher than public hospital rates. 

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