Delhi High Court audit found medical equipment worth crores lying unused across 26 government hospitals.
A medical cyclotron bought for ₹15.42 crore in 2017 has remained unused at Delhi State Cancer Institute since April 2022.
Hospitals also reported idle ventilators, BiPAPs, oxygen equipment, ultrasound machines and eye-bank equipment due to staffing, installation and operational gaps.
A Delhi High Court-directed audit has found medical equipment worth crores of rupees lying unused across 26 government hospitals after the court was informed that a medical cyclotron at the Delhi State Cancer Institute had remained unused since April 2022.
The Delhi government compiled the hospitals’ status reports into an affidavit submitted to the court on August 5, 2026, following the court’s July 3 order.
The Delhi State Cancer Institute has several high-value machines that remain unused or only partly operational, according to the audit submitted by the Delhi government to the High Court. The medical cyclotron, purchased by the Department of Nuclear Medicine in 2017 for about USD 2.5 million (₹15.42 crore), has remained unused since April 2022 because of a manpower shortage. The audit also recorded ₹64 lakh in local supply costs and ₹2.5 crore in turnkey costs, as reported by The Indian Express.
The department also has a dual-head gamma camera with SPECT, multislice CT and radiation therapy simulation purchased in 2017 for USD 1.3 million, plus ₹26.68 lakh in local supply costs. The equipment remains unused and is listed as “under evaluation,” according to the Delhi government’s affidavit cited by The Indian Express.
A PET scanner with integrated CT, purchased in 2021, is another partly operational system. Its CT component is in use, while the PET component is awaiting testing and evaluation, according to the audit details reported by CNBC-TV18.
The institute’s Department of Oncopathology also has a KUGEL grossing station, received free from a German supplier, that has not been installed because of a “lack of availability of space,” according to the court submission reported by The Indian Express.
The Department of Lab Medicine reported three unused analyzers, including a ₹1.26 crore biochemistry analyzer, after the required reagents were discontinued. The machines are now in the process of being condemned.
Staff shortages have left some functional medical equipment unused at Delhi government hospitals. At Dr. B. R. Sur Homoeopathic Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre, a ₹19.08 lakh ultrasound machine remains unused because the hospital does not have a regular radiologist. The hospital is seeking to engage one on a “guest-faculty basis,” according to the audit details reported by The Indian Express.
At Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital (DDUH), a medical oxygen buffer tank worth about ₹94.82 lakh, donated by SaveLIFE Foundation in 2021, was never connected to the hospital’s medical gas pipeline system. According to the hospital, it was “never connected” to the system.
DDUH also has two pieces of equipment purchased in 2019 and 2020 to establish an eye bank: a specular microscope for assessing donor corneal tissue and a laminar airflow unit used as a sterile workstation. Together, they cost ₹22.15 lakh and remain unused. The audit attributed the delay to shortages of trained cornea specialists, the COVID-19 shutdown of corneal donation and transplantation, and a continuing shortage of trained doctors and ophthalmologists, as reported by The Indian Express.
The Delhi High Court described the continued non-use of expensive medical equipment as a “gross waste of public resources” and directed Delhi government hospitals to audit equipment lying unused and report the reasons for non-use. The direction was issued on July 3, 2026, after the court was informed that a ₹15.42 crore PET cyclotron at the Delhi State Cancer Institute had remained non-operational for years.
The court ordered hospitals to identify unused equipment, its cost and year of purchase, whether it was operational, and the reasons for non-use. The Delhi government subsequently compiled the hospitals’ status reports and submitted the findings to the High Court on August 5, according to The Indian Express.
The audit findings point to gaps beyond procurement, including staff shortages, installation issues, lack of essential supplies and other operational constraints. The matter remains before the Delhi High Court for further consideration.
(Rh/TP/MSM)