MUMBAI, JULY 9, 2026: The Maharashtra state government is positively considering the pilot implementation of “Portable MRI Systems” across state-run government medical colleges and hospitals. Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif announced in the Legislative Council today that a specialized expert committee has been constituted to evaluate the feasibility of this technology, and a final administrative decision will be formulated upon receipt of their comprehensive report.
The ministerial assurance follows a half-hour legislative debate raised under Council Rule 92 by Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) Sateej Patil regarding the modernization of diagnostic infrastructure in the state. Initiating the discussion, Patil noted that while MRI machines have been deployed at 19 locations under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, the government needs to account for patients who remain underserved due to operational backlogs. He further questioned whether the administration is actively working to deploy mobile or portable MRI facilities to strengthen healthcare delivery in rural and remote regions of Maharashtra.
Responding to the queries, Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif informed the house that the state government has already executed formal agreements with specialized firms based in Mumbai and Nagpur to ensure robust MRI services across state medical institutions. He stated that out of the 36 government medical colleges where MRI facilities are being introduced in a phased manner, infrastructure setup is actively underway at 16 locations, while several apex hospitals already feature operational conventional MRI machinery.
Addressing the technical aspects of the new technology, Minister Mushrif clarified that portable MRI systems are not a total replacement for traditional, high-resolution conventional MRI machines. However, recognizing the immense clinical utility of bedside diagnostics and direct patient-care delivery, the ministry has already conducted formal technical demonstrations and presentations of the portable systems. The Minister concluded that if the expert panel’s recommendations are favorable, the government will move forward with deploying these portable units on an experimental basis to optimize diagnostic speed and accessibility in public hospitals.
