A landmark expansion project at Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital — set to boost healthcare infrastructure in Gujarat — is currently on a pause, as conversations continue around the relocation of a temple located within the Medicity campus. The Rs 588-crore, 1,800-bed hospital was announced with much anticipation during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Gujarat on May 27. However, plans are temporarily held up as authorities engage with religious stakeholders to find a balanced way forward.
The Khodiyar Mata temple, considered sacred by many visitors and hospital-goers, is situated opposite the old post-mortem building — an area earmarked for demolition to make way for the new hospital wing. While the temple holds deep spiritual significance, the proposed construction will add much-needed capacity to the public hospital, taking the total bed strength to 4,200 and doubling ICU beds from 150 to 300. It will also feature modern OPD blocks, modular operation theatres, a 50-bed isolation ward, and a two-storey parking facility for over 1,600 vehicles.
According to a report published by a national newspaper, Dr Rakesh Joshi, Medical Superintendent of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, recently visited the temple to engage in a dialogue with temple authorities. In a video statement, he said his visit was aimed at exploring ways to proceed with development “in a way that faith is not compromised.” He explained the scope of the project to the temple representatives, highlighting how the new hospital would provide life-saving care to countless underprivileged patients.
He later said that while he had attempted to find a consensus, the temple authorities were currently not in favour of relocation. He added that any further decisions would be made at a higher administrative level.
The report added that the temple’s priest, Sandeep Thakurbhai Dave, said the temple has been part of the area since before Independence. It’s a spiritual anchor in the midst of the hospital complex. The temple’s distinct blue-tiled sanctum, unchanged over the years, continues to attract devotees, including relatives of patients and residents from nearby areas. It has also become a navigation landmark within the vast campus.
Dave told the media house that hospital officials had explained the implications of retaining the temple in its current spot, including the potential loss of space for 300 hospital beds. He shared that in previous decades, when the temple had been removed, subsequent hospital construction had not succeeded — and it was only after the temple’s reinstatement that the current hospital was built.
Regarding recent discussions, the priest said that several conversations had taken place over the past few months. When asked about relocating the temple, he said they sought divine guidance through rituals and that the response, according to tradition, had been to remain in place. He noted that Dr Joshi’s visit on a Sunday morning included prayers and a ritual performed to seek the Goddess’s blessings for the new project.
Despite the current impasse, preparations for the hospital’s expansion are progressing. Buildings marked for demolition are being evacuated, labs and central stores have already been shifted, and other interim arrangements are being made across the campus, according to Dr Joshi.
The hospital recently handled a critical emergency following the crash of the London-bound AI 171 flight, which struck the nearby BJ Medical College hostel. The hospital served as a nodal centre for victims’ families and oversaw DNA identification of the 241 passengers and 19 others who lost their lives — including members of its own staff and students. The proximity of the temple to the crash site further highlighted its place in the emotional landscape of the Medicity campus.
Spanning 108 acres and offering numerous super-speciality services, the Civil Hospital is among the largest public sector healthcare campuses on India’s western coast. With the temple talks continuing in a spirit of mutual respect, authorities remain hopeful that a solution will emerge — one that honours tradition while enabling progress in public health infrastructure.
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