Odisha government to operate MCL's medical college in Talcher

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday accorded in-principle approval to Mahanadi Coalfields Limited's (MCL) proposal to take over the operations of the medical college in Angul district. The state government will run the medical college and hospital, while MCL will provide the necessary funds for it, officials said.

"The medical college will further strengthen the efforts of the state government to improve the capacity of the medical education institutions in Odisha," the Chief Minister's Office said in a statement. MCL, a unit of Coal India Limited, has constructed the infrastructure in Talcher on 20 acres of land provided by the state government at a cost of Rs 500 crore, officials said. The medical college will have 100 seats for MBBS, the hospital will have 500 beds, they said.

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The MCL tried to operate the Mahanadi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (MIMSR) through public-private partnership (PPP) mode initially. However, after communication between the Coal Ministry and the chief minister, a proposal was sent to the state government for taking over the responsibility of operating it. The construction was completed in 2018 and it was inaugurated by Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in 2019.