Monday, April 27, 2020

Immediate Support required for the Hospitals & Healthcare Facilities

20 th April 2020

Shri Narendra Modi
Hon’ble Prime Minister of India
Government of India
Prime Minister’s Office
Raisina Hills, South Block
New Delhi - 110011

Respected Sir,

Immediate Support required for the Hospitals & Healthcare Facilities

The healthcare industry has been at the forefront of our battle against COVID-19 under your
able leadership. The braveheart healthcare professionals and all support staff are working
relentlessly amidst various adversities and limitations and are putting their own lives at risk to
contain the spread of COVID-19. We salute their courage, dedication, determination and fighting
spirit. Your brainchild Ayushmaan Bharat, which is the world’s largest healthcare project, is
supporting millions of poor Indians at this time of distress.

However, the present crisis has highlighted many gaps in India’s healthcare system which the
Government needs to take note of and address.

This necessitates massive revitalization of the healthcare ecosystem. First, to ensure that the
existing hospitals and healthcare facilities do not become bankrupt. Second, to increase
the number of hospitals, nursing homes, healthcare centres, diagnostic centres, etc.,
there is also an urgent need to create the capacity and infrastructure necessary for expanding
the reach of tele-medicine and to ramp up the training facilities for healthcare
professionals. In addition, a ‘Make in India’ drive for medical equipment will also be useful in
meeting domestic demand as well as demand from neighboring nations. Thus, this sector calls
for a targeted stimulus package covering the following:

 For all existing healthcare entities (hospitals, nursing homes, diagnostic centres,
healthcare training centres, etc.) which are finding it difficult to service their loans due to
the disruption in cash flows due to the lockdown, banks, NBFC-s and FI-s should
restructure such loans based on the future cash flows and value of assets and
collateral, while keeping assets classified as ‘standard assets’
 Banks, NBFC-s and FI-s be instructed to classify their loans to healthcare facilities as
‘priority sector lending’
 Banks, NBFC-s and FI-s be instructed to provide additional working capital and term
loan facilities to healthcare entities within the next 30 days
 Any investment or contribution made by corporates to hospitals should be treated
as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) spending under Section 135 of the
Companies Act and all companies should be encouraged to contribute to the maximum
extent under this clause to the hospitals
 Allow banks, NBFC-s and FI-s to convert their loans into CSR contribution under
Section 135 of the Companies Act
 Central and state governments should proactively release all payments which are due
in various government health schemes to hospitals and diagnostic centers. This will
infuse the much needed liquidity which will help them in fighting this pandemic
 GST rate on medical equipment be reduced from 12% to 5% with immediate effect
 Import duty on medical equipment needed for fighting this pandemic (e.g.
ventilator, monitor, testing machines, etc.) be made NIL for the next 6 months to ramp
up the infrastructure quickly

Sir, building a vibrant healthcare ecosystem will not only equip India to deal with any future
medical emergency better, it will also help in shaping a healthy and robust India, generating
more employment, emerging as a regional hub for medical expertise and equipment capability.

With warm regards,
Yours sincerely,

Hemant Kanoria
Chairman
Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd.

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