Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Guwahati: Guwahati is getting the first privately owned medical cyclotron facility in Northeast India. Nucleomed Private Limited broke ground on the project at the Assam Industrial Development Corporation estate in Bonda on November 1. This Rs 62 crore investment aims to solidify the state as a hub for advanced cancer diagnostics. Construction should finish by September 2027. Full commercial production starts in January 2028.
The facility will house an 18 MeV medical cyclotron. It can produce 30 curies of Fluorine-18 Fluorodeoxyglucose per run. This radioactive tracer is a staple for PET-CT scans used to detect cancer. Dr. Kandarpa Saikia, a director at Nucleomed, confirmed plans to manufacture various short-half-life isotopes for clinical use. He noted, "The project will also manufacture short- and ultra-short-half-life isotopes required for cancer treatment and other medical applications." The site will also host a dedicated theranostics ward.
Heavy hitters attended the foundation stone laying. Olivier Legrain, CEO of Belgium-based Ion Beam Applications, joined local dignitaries including Dr. Munindra Narayan Baruah, Dr. Bibhuti Barthakur, and Dr. Ramen Hazarika. Rakesh Pal of IBA India and local medical leaders like Dr. Ashok Kumar Das and Dr. Sandeep Taparia also marked the occasion.
The state government pushed this project through the Advantage Assam 2.0 initiative. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board signed off on the vault design. Architect Ranjee Baruah and structural engineer Bhaskarjyoti Das are leading the build, with former IIT Guwahati Director S N Buragohain advising. Assam plans to leverage improved air connectivity to ship these time-sensitive isotopes to the rest of India and Southeast Asia.
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