Maharashtra to scale up key health infrastructure, ropes in McKinsey

MUMBAI: Maharashtra, the Indian state with the highest number of Covid-19 positive cases, is working with global consultancy firm McKinsey in order to rapidly build critical healthcare infrastructure that needs to become functional post the 21-day lockdown period when the number of virus positive individuals are expected to rise.

McKinsey, backed by large Mumbai-based corporate groups, has identified 12 areas where it will help the state government with capacity planning and scenario analysis.

This includes social and economic modelling to predict week by week the likely number of cases, the likely progress of these individuals, the number of highly symptomatic cases and the requirements of ICUs and ventilators for these cases.


In an email response to ET, the consultancy firm confirmed that it is providing targeted support to BMC. “Our pro bono effort is focused over the next few weeks on helping BMC officials leading the warroom, specifically on coordinating multi-agency efforts to help scale up bed capacity, medical supplies and personal protective equipment.

We are drawing upon our global experience, including with crisis war-rooms in helping fight this unprecedented crisis,” a McKinsey spokesperson told ET.

In Mumbai, currently, the government-run Kasturba Hospital, and Seven Hills run by Reliance Foundation, have emerged as quarantine centres for Covid-19 positive patients.

There are four more hospitals where a certain number of beds may be identified to quarantine patients.

The plan is to have an additional 1,000 beds, over and above the beds available at Kasturba and Seven Hills. On the ventilator development side, Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Motors, public sector undertaking Bharat Electricals and Karnataka's Skanray are working together to manufacture 1 lakh ventilators by May.

As of Sunday evening, Maharashtra had a total of about 183 Covid-19 positive individuals including seven deaths and 25 individuals who have recovered. The health ministry in a press conference held on Sunday said that it is concentrating on high-disease burden areas and direct critical resources in such areas.