In a mega CSR initiative in recent times, the ICICI Bank has committed Rs 1,200 crore towards Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), a premier institution that runs cancer treatment and research centres across the country.
The 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. R. A. Badwe, Director, TMC signed the agreement in the presence of Girish Chandra Chaturvedi, Chairman, ICICI Bank and Sandeep Batra, Executive Director, ICICI Bank.
“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 serve as regional referral centres and mitigate the need for patients to travel long distances to visit Tata Memorial Hospital at Parel in Mumbai,” said Chaturvedi.
“It is critical that advanced cancer care is delivered closer to home so that more people from the region benefit from accessing such therapies,” added Badve.
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.