Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda on Friday, 17 July 2026 highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated two landmark facilities at PGIMER, Chandigarh — the Advanced Neurosciences Centre and the Advanced Mother and Child Centre — and also laid the foundation stone of a 150-bed Critical Care Block under the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM).

Context

The 300-bed Advanced Neurosciences Centre, built at a cost of ₹440 crore, consolidates neurology, neurosurgery, and neurocritical care services under a single roof at PGIMER. Health Minister Nadda described it as 'a major expansion of India's neurological healthcare infrastructure,' significantly enhancing the institute's capacity in a critical specialty. The co-location of these services is expected to reduce referral delays for patients from across northern India.

The Advanced Mother and Child Centre is positioned as one of the country's most advanced facilities of its kind, providing comprehensive and specialised care for women and children in an integrated setting. Together, the two inaugurations mark one of the largest single-day expansions of tertiary healthcare capacity at PGIMER in recent years.

Policy Backdrop

PM-ABHIM — the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission — was announced in the Union Budget 2021-22 to address gaps in public health infrastructure exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The mission focuses on building critical care blocks and strengthening diagnostic infrastructure across states, with a particular emphasis on upgrading existing institutions of national importance rather than creating new ones from scratch.

Ayushman Bharat, launched in 2018, remains the umbrella programme combining health insurance coverage for low-income families with primary and secondary care strengthening. Nadda credited these 'flagship initiatives' with expanding access to quality healthcare and improving the well-being of millions across the country over the past 12 years of the Modi government.

Stakeholders and Impact

The new neurosciences block is expected to serve neurological patients from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and neighbouring states who currently travel long distances for specialised care. By housing neurology, neurosurgery, and neurocritical care in one facility, the centre aims to cut the time between diagnosis and intervention — a critical factor in outcomes for conditions such as stroke and traumatic brain injury.

The Advanced Mother and Child Centre addresses a long-standing demand for integrated maternal and paediatric care in the region. Women and children from economically weaker sections, many of them covered under Ayushman Bharat, stand to benefit directly from the expanded capacity at a publicly funded institute.

What's Next

The 150-bed Critical Care Block whose foundation stone was laid on 17 July 2026 under PM-ABHIM will add further emergency and intensive-care capacity to PGIMER once constructed. Policy watchers will track patient footfall and utilisation data at the new blocks over the next 12 to 18 months as a measure of real-world impact. Further PM-ABHIM critical care block foundation stones in other states are anticipated during the remainder of the financial year, continuing the government's push to build multi-specialty health hubs at public institutions.