The state government will allocate land to private companies for the construction of colleges. The companies will put money into college construction, infrastructure, and teaching and non-teaching staff. The district hospital will be turned over to the firm for clinical practise by the government.

 

In 11 districts of Karnataka, eleven additional medical institutions will open up using a public-private partnership (PPP) model.

At Tumakuru, Davangere, Chitradurga, Bagalkot, Kolar, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Bengaluru Rural, Vijayapura, Vijayanagara, and Ramanagaram, new medical institutions will be established.

For two medical colleges, the state government has already finished the site selection and related clearance processes. In the 2024–25 academic year, two medical colleges would be functioning in the Davanagere and Bengaluru Rural districts, according to sources.

According to Sujatha Rathod, director of the Directorate of Medical Education, “the state government has decided to start 11 new medical colleges under the PPP model in Karnataka to improve the medical infrastructure, health facilities for the rural people and give more opportunities for medical education to rural residents and poor and meritorious students.

“Site allocation and other permissions for the rural district medical colleges in Davanagere and Bengaluru have been finalised. In order to administer the institutions, we will look for stakeholders. From the 2024–2025 school year, medical colleges in these two districts will be operational.

There are currently 57 medical colleges in Karnataka, including 23 that are governed by the government. The state government announced the opening of medical colleges in a number of districts in 2014–15. Nevertheless, due to financial limitations, the construction of medical colleges in several districts could not begin. The cost of establishing and maintaining a medical institution can reach $600 crore.

With their limited resources, the Union and state governments, according to the NITI Aayog, are unable to bridge the gaps in medical education. As a result, the Aayog proposed transferring district hospitals with 750 beds to private medical colleges via a PPP model. The state government then decided to establish new medical colleges under the PPP model in 11 Karnataka districts. 

 

The state government would provide private companies with land to build colleges on. The businesses will provide money for the infrastructure, teaching and support staff, and college buildings. The district hospital will then be turned over by the government to a private company for clinical use. Nonetheless, the State Department of Health and Family Welfare will oversee the district hospital employees.