by our correspondent, Surat, 30 January 2013

Groundbreaking was performed in Surat on Tuesday for construction of a seven-floor stem cell research center in new civil hospital campus. The first phase work that has been already kicked off with the ground breaking event involves budget of Rs 60 crore. The total sum of money granted by the department of health, Government of Gujarat for this project is over Rs 90 crore. The research center is likely to be operational within three years. Along with the research center there will be a 160-bed hospital.

San Diego, California-based Global Institute of Stem Cell Therapy and Research will train the staff of the new research center and hospital and provide assistance in research activity and technical set up. The center and the hospital will be important to address the problem of Sickle-cell anemia in tribal belt of south Gujarat. In fact this is the primary reason for which the stem cell research center and hospital facilities are planned in such a big way in Surat.