Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday laid the foundation stone for construction of a towering state-of-the-art 1,500-bed block at LNJP Hospital that will make it one of the largest facilities in the country.
The Delhi government-run hospital at present has 2,000 beds, all of which have been dedicated for coronavirus patients.
The chief minister also hailed the "corona warriors" of the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital, who have either lost their lives or continue to serve in the frontline.
Kejriwal after laying the foundation stone of the Maternity, Medicine and Advanced Pediatrics Block on the hospital premises in the presence of Health Minister Satyendar Jain, asserted that this will be a "world-class facility for the people of the capital city".
"With the construction of the new state-of-the-art block with 25 floors, fully air-conditioned with modular OTs and other facilities, the bed strength of LNJP will grow to 3,500, and additional block coming up will have 300 more beds. So, a total of 3,800 beds, and that will make LNJP Hospital, one of the biggest facilities in the country," he said.
The new 1,500-bed block is to be built at a cost of Rs 450 crore with per bed cost coming out to be Rs 30 lakh, he said.
"This is much less than similar projects done by the Centre or any state government, where the average cost turns out to be Rs 1.25 crore to Rs 1.5 crore per bed," Kejriwal claimed.
The chief minister also asserted that his government in the last five years has finished various projects in different sectors before time and saved money.
"The LNJP’s new block is to be completed in 30 months. But the health minister (Satyendar Jain) has said that their target is to finish it in two years or 24 months only," he added.