Infosys Foundation to renovate Dharamshala at Kidwai, build one more

The Infosys Foundation will soon renovate the existing Dharamshala facility at the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology (KMIO) and also construct another on the premises.

Addressing the media in the City on Monday, Minister for Medical Education Sharanprakash Patil said that the Foundation had agreed to spend Rs two crore on renovating the existing Dharamshala and had agreed to grant an estimated Rs 40 crore for the new building.

While it was earlier planned that a new Dharamshala would be built by demolishing the existing one at KMIO, authorities later came to a conclusion on Monday that the existing building would not be brought down, but renovated.

“Since it is a last-minute change in the plan, we are unsure how many rooms the facility will have. It may be anywhere between 150 and 170 rooms,” Patil said. The minister, along with representatives of the Infosys Foundation, went around the campus. While the State government would be providing land for the Dharamshala, the Foundation would bear the cost of construction. 

Sudha Murthy, chairperson, Infosys Foundation who was present at the event, said that this apart, the Foundation would donate Rs six crore to build a new operation theatre (OT) block at KMIO.

When asked about the new building that is yet to be completed at Minto Ophthalmic Hospital, on the sidelines of the event, the minister said that the delay happened as the expenses had overshot the planned estimate. He said that the trauma centre in Victoria Hospital was already functional and would be formally inaugurated by the chief minister soon.

Model village
The Foundation has also expressed interest in creating a model village in Patil’s constituency (Sedam in Kalaburagi district). Roads and drainage systems would be completely redesigned under the project, Patil said.