The Tata Memorial Centre’s Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC) in Kharghar will soon house India’s largest bone marrow transplant (BMT) facility, with funding support of Rs 3.8 billion from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.

The 11-storey facility, to be named the NSE Multispecialty Hospital Block and Bone Marrow Transplant Cancer Hospital, will be built by Larsen & Toubro (L&T). A bhoomipujan ceremony was held on Sunday to mark the project’s commencement. Once construction is completed, the building will be handed over to ACTREC.

Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, Director of ACTREC, said the new 60-bed facility would significantly expand the centre’s capabilities. “At present, we have a five-bed BMT centre. Once the new building is ready, we will be able to perform 600 bone marrow transplants each year,” he said.

Expected to be operational by July 2027, the centre will also handle about 130,000 outpatient consultations annually, vastly improving access to specialised cancer care.

ACTREC currently performs over 100 bone marrow transplants every year and treats more than 300 patients daily. It also pioneered India’s first indigenous CAR-T cell therapy for blood cancer in 2021.

Dr Chaturvedi added that the upcoming facility would offer the most affordable bone marrow transplants in the country. While the procedure can cost over Rs 40 lakh (Rs 4 million) in private hospitals and upwards of Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) even in public institutions, the Tata Memorial Centre helps families secure financial assistance through donations and charity support.

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by key dignitaries, including Ashishkumar Chauhan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NSE; Dr Sudeep Gupta, Director, Tata Memorial Centre; Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, Director, ACTREC; and Dr Navin Khattry, Deputy Director, ACTREC and Head of the BMT Programme.

According to an NSE release, “This collaboration represents a major step toward bridging the gap in affordable, high-quality cancer care across India, bringing critical treatment access to thousands in need.”