Assam approves ₹600cr proton beam therapy unit for cancer treatment: CM Sarma

The Assam cabinet on Sunday approved purchase of a proton beam therapy unit for cancer treatment at a cost of ₹600 crore.

Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that once the unit is set up at Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Assam will be the first state in the country to have this facility in the public healthcare sector.

“Proton beam therapy is one of the most advanced form of treatments for cancer. World Bank will provide us a loan of ₹315 crore for this and state government would spend ₹285 crore,” he said.

“Assam will be the first state in the country to have a proton beam therapy unit in the public health care sector. At present the treatment is available at two private hospitals in Mumbai and Chennai, but no state-run hospitals have that facility till date,” Sarma added.

He informed that at present there are only around 40 proton beam therapy units across the world. The technique, which uses proton beams for advanced radiation treatment is more precision-based than existing methods and has less chances of damaged nearby healthy tissues.

“Assam will join an illustrious list of places where this advanced treatment will be available. Once this treatment starts, we are hopeful of not just treating patients in our state but also attract medical tourists,” said the CM.

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The cabinet also approved expenditure of ₹50,000 crore for a period of seven years beginning 2027-28 in different sectors with the aim of transforming Assam into a developed state.

“This amount will be spent for various development works like giving ₹7 crore each to 1,000 high schools for upgradation of facilities, opening 6,000 new ‘anganwadi’ centres, setting up two women markets and a stadium in each constituency, new road network etc,” said Sarma.

“For this we will take a loan of ₹30,000 from NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) and spend ₹20,000 crore from state’s enhanced revenue collection,” he added.