‘Cannot agree more with Sudha Murty’: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw on getting AIIMS in Karnataka

Biocon founder and chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, and Rajya Sabha MP Sudha Murty

Biocon executive chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has publicly backed Rajya Sabha MP Sudha Murty’s demand for setting up an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Karnataka, calling it a proposal aimed at addressing deep healthcare inequities in the state.

Mazumdar-Shaw endorsed Murty’s appeal in a post on X, soon after the parliamentarian raised the issue in the Upper House, calling for an AIIMS in Karnataka’s Raichur district.

“I cannot agree more with Sudha Murty. Setting up an AIIMS in Karnataka will indeed benefit the residents of the state by augmenting access to advanced, affordable healthcare and strengthening our medical infrastructure,” she wrote.

Sudha Murty’s pitch in Parliament

Speaking during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, Sudha Murty urged the Centre to establish an AIIMS in Raichur, citing the district’s poor healthcare access and long-standing regional neglect.

"I am not asking for it to be set up in Huballi or Bengaluru but in Raichur district," she said.

Murty flagged Raichur as one of Karnataka’s most backward districts, noting that residents are often forced to travel hundreds of kilometres to cities such as Bengaluru or Hyderabad for specialised treatment.

"The poor people there spend more on healthcare than those living in big cities like Bengaluru," she said.

Murty also pointed to weak medical infrastructure, low literacy levels, and limited local employment opportunities as compounding factors. An AIIMS in Raichur would not only improve access to affordable tertiary healthcare but also generate jobs and strengthen educational outcomes in north Karnataka, a region she said had historically lagged behind the southern part of the state.