ESI Hospital Maniktala in Kolkata has significantly strengthened its critical care capacity with the commissioning of a new 19-bed Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU), bringing the hospital’s total ITU beds to 52.
The upgraded facility, developed at an expenditure of about ₹4.95 crore, was inaugurated in late February 2026 to address long-standing shortages in critical care beds that had previously required seriously ill patients to be transferred to private or partner hospitals at higher costs. This expansion is expected to improve access to life-saving care for workers and their dependents covered under the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) health scheme, and to reduce dependency on external facilities.
The hospital, one of the largest and oldest ESI units in West Bengal with around 500 beds, sees a heavy daily outpatient load across specialties such as nephrology and cardiology, with around 600 patients attending those departments each day. The new ITU beds are equipped to provide advanced medical support for critically ill patients requiring continuous monitoring and intervention.
ESI hospitals operate under the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) scheme, a central-sector social security programme managed by the Ministry of Labour and Employment that provides comprehensive healthcare to insured workers and their families through a nationwide network of dispensaries and hospitals. In West Bengal, ESI facilities are funded jointly by the central and state governments in a 7:1 ratio, supporting both routine and specialist care.
Plans are also underway to add other major diagnostic services at the Maniktala facility, including the previously proposed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit, though installation work has been deferred until after the completion of state assembly elections. The combined upgrades aim to strengthen the hospital’s ability to offer broader tertiary and superspecialty services to beneficiaries within the region.
Altogether, the expansion at Maniktala reflects ongoing efforts to enhance public-sector healthcare infrastructure for industrial workers in Kolkata, aligning with broader national initiatives to expand capacity and improve the quality of care available under India’s ESI health system.
