Guwahati, Aug 30 (PTI) : Assam is set to become the third state in the country to have a Proton Beam Therapy Centre for cancer treatment and the first in the government sector, entailing an investment of Rs 600 crore, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday.
Addressing a press conference after a state cabinet meeting here, Sarma said the highly advanced facility would be established in Guwahati and is expected to boost medical tourism in the state. The cabinet approved the establishment of the centre under the Assam State Secondary Healthcare Initiative for Service Delivery Transformation (ASSIST) Project of the Assam Health Infrastructure Development & Management Society (AHIDMS), he said.
The project will cost an estimated Rs 600 crore, of which Rs 315 crore will be provided as a World Bank loan, while the state government will contribute the remaining Rs 285 crore, Sarma said.
“The investment will include the machine, training and building for the centre. This will give Assam a new identity in medical tourism. It will take a minimum of three years to set up the facility,” he said.
Sarma said only two Proton Beam Therapy centres are currently operational in India — at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai and Apollo Hospital in Chennai.
“Assam will be the third centre in India, but the first government centre. Gauhati Medical College and Hospital will be the first government hospital in the entire country to have this machine,” he said.
Proton Beam Therapy is an advanced form of radiation treatment that uses proton particles to target tumours while potentially reducing radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissues.
The chief minister said there are around 40 Proton Beam Therapy centres across the world.
In March 2024, the state government inaugurated a new cancer hospital developed in association with the Tata Group at a cost of nearly Rs 400 crore.
The State Cancer Institute at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital has 350 beds and provides services including radiation, chemotherapy, robotic surgery, nuclear medicine and bone marrow transplantation, besides facilities for academics and research.
