Game-changer in cancer treatment. Better facility at Rs 2,000 cr AIIMS Jmu than Mumbai’s Tata Hospital
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
Jammu: India’s first and the only genome testing laboratory for the treatment of cancer patients has been established at AIIMS Jammu—a Rs 2,000 super specialty hospital and medical institute becoming fully functional at Vijaypur.
“This Rs 9 crore state-of-the-art laboratory has come up with an external funding from a Bangalore-based organisation. Among all AIIMS hospitals, AIIMS New Delhi alone has a similar laboratory but that is dedicated to their own research programmes and procedures. In Bangalore, there’s one but that’s no match to that of ours. Our only match in this region is in Dubai (UAE). Even Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospitals sends the samples to overseas”, Dr Shakti Kumar Gupta, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AIIMS Jammu said in an exclusive interview with this journalist.
“Presently a patient has to cough up Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh for a genome testing in Europe or America. Now the total cost of such a test will range between Rs 15,000 and Rs 1 lakh at AIIMS Jammu. With this facility, AIIMS Jammu has secured the distinction of being India’s only medical institute where a patient’s cancerous cells can be identified and precisely targeted under one roof. This is a veritable game-changer in cancer treatment in India. In the conventional chemotherapy administration, a patient would pass through serious complications including nausea, hair fall and acute physical weakness”, Dr Gupta asserted.
Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office and the Lok Sabha member from Doda-Kathua-Udhampur, Dr Jitendra Singh has recently inaugurated the advanced genomics precision testing lab at AIIMS Jammu.
Dr Gupta said that because of this advanced precision medicine protocol, AIIMS Jammu would attract patients not only from across the country but also from Europe and America where the cost of cancer treatment was skyrocketing. He pointed out that India was already emerging as the biggest medical tourism hub in Asia.
Dr Gupta revealed that a fully computerised smart laboratory with the most modern AI facility and functions would be made operational at AIIMS Jammu with an expenditure of Rs 9 crore within a month. He said that additionally as many as 20 most modern laboratories were being made functional at AIIMS Jammu. All these labs, he asserted, would function on a 24×7 basis.
Dr Gupta disclosed further that as many as 20 most modern and modular Operation Theatres (OTs), each with an expenditure of Rs 1.00 crore to Rs 1.50 crore, were being established at AIIMS Jammu.
“When Prime Minister inaugurated AIIMS Jammu, from Jammu last year these days, our infrastructure was nearing completion but services had not started. Subsequently, we started the hospital services in August 2024. For emergency purposes, we operated two OTs. In the current month (February 2025), we made 8 new OTs functional. We are sure that all the 20 OTs will be fully operational in the next 6 months”, Dr Gupta said.
Dr Gupta said that a fully transparent and flawless system of acquisition was in practice and the faculty had been given a free hand to choose the best compatible specifications for each and every equipment.
“Having completed our constructions and other infrastructure, we are now seeking and getting funding from external sources. We have set up a number of such facilities with CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) support. J&K Bank has given us four vehicles (electric carts). Another benefactor has provided Rs 1.72 crore for an eye bank. HUDCO is providing us with 10 vehicles worth Rs 62 lakhs. HDFC and ICICI Bank are also supporting us”, Dr Gupta said.
Dr Gupta said that the hospital of 750 beds, with 43 multi-floor towers, and 50 super specialty departments had been envisaged with an estimated cost of Rs 1,661 crore. “Till date we have spent Rs 1,800 crore. And the total project will be completed within this year with the total expenditure of Rs 2,000 crore”, Dr Gupta said.
