For patients in the hills of Himachal Pradesh who once faced an exhausting journey to Delhi or Chandigarh for a cancer scan or an advanced MRI, something changed on Saturday, September 26, 2026. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu inaugurated a 3 Tesla MRI machine and a Tertiary Care Cancer Centre at Nerchowk Medical College in Mandi district, and laid the foundation stone for a PET scan machine — bringing three landmark diagnostic capabilities to the state in a single visit.

Posting on X, the Chief Minister said the new facilities would give local residents access to 'गंभीर बीमारियों की जांच और उपचार' ('diagnosis and treatment of serious diseases') within the state itself, and that 'इलाज के लिए दूर के शहरों तक जाने की परेशानी भी कम होगी' — the burden of travelling to distant cities for treatment would now ease. He also noted a 'meaningful discussion' with faculty members on strengthening medical education and health services.

What a 3T MRI and PET Scanner Mean for Mandi

The 3 Tesla MRI is among the most powerful clinical imaging systems available — delivering sharper neurological, cardiac, and oncological scans than the more common 1.5T units found in district hospitals. Paired with a forthcoming PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scanner, Nerchowk will gain the ability to map metabolic activity in tumours — a capability previously restricted to a handful of private and government hospitals in metros. The combination is particularly significant for cancer staging, where a delayed diagnosis often means the difference between curative and palliative care.

The Tertiary Care Cancer Centre adds the clinical infrastructure to act on those scans — a supervised environment for chemotherapy, radiotherapy planning, and specialist oncology care that patients in Mandi, Kullu, and neighbouring districts would otherwise access only after a multi-hour road journey through mountain terrain.

Nerchowk and the Push to Decentralise Specialised Care

Nerchowk Medical College, formally the Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, sits along the Uhl river in Mandi — one of Himachal Pradesh's most populated districts and a natural referral hub for the mid-hills. Equipping it with high-end imaging is part of a broader national pattern: since the mid-2010s, Indian states have steadily moved 3T MRI and PET-CT machines into district-level teaching hospitals, reducing the pressure on metro referral chains and giving medical students hands-on exposure to technology that was once exclusive to private tertiary centres.

At the national level, the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, launched in 2018, set a policy foundation for expanding tertiary-care access — including cancer treatment — to non-metro populations. State investments like today's installations are the on-ground expression of that ambition. The faculty discussion CM Sukhu held after the inaugurations signals an awareness that hardware alone does not build a functioning cancer centre; trained specialists, operating budgets, and integration with central scheme funding will determine whether the machines run at capacity or gather dust.

What Comes Next for Himachal's Health Infrastructure

The PET scan machine's foundation stone means the scanner is still months away from being operational — procurement, installation, and calibration for a cyclotron-fed PET unit is a significant undertaking. Watchers of Himachal's health budget will track whether the state follows today's announcement with faculty hiring in oncology and radiology at Nerchowk, and whether similar upgrades are planned for Tanda Medical College in Kangra or the IGMC in Shimla.

For now, the 3T MRI is live, the Cancer Centre is open, and a mountain state has moved meaningfully closer to keeping its sickest patients home.