The Cardiologist Who Built Affordable Heart Care
A story of Padma Shri Dr. Bhupathiraju Somaraju

Born on 25 September 1948 (some records note 1946) in Akividu, Andhra Pradesh, Bhupathiraju Somaraju grew up with a quiet determination to heal the heart. He completed his MBBS and MD at Guntur Medical College, then earned his DM in Cardiology from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh. Returning to Hyderabad, he rose to become Professor and Head of Cardiology, and later Dean, at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences.

In the 1980s and 1990s he helped introduce advanced techniques such as percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty to India. In 1998, working with Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and a team of scientists, he developed the country’s first indigenous coronary stent—the Kalam-Raju Stent—making life-saving treatment far more affordable. Years later the same partnership produced the rugged Kalam-Raju Tablet to bring medical knowledge to rural areas.

One evening a young doctor asked him, “Sir, why spend so much energy inventing low-cost devices when imported ones already exist?”

Somaraju answered calmly, “Because a farmer or a daily-wage worker should not have to choose between a stent and his family’s future. If we can make the best care affordable here, more hearts will keep beating.”

In 1996 he and a group of colleagues founded CARE Hospitals, building a network dedicated to high-quality yet accessible cardiac care. He continued practising, teaching and mentoring, later serving at institutions including the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology and Sindhu Hospitals.

In 2001 the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri. Fellowships, innovation awards and the title of India’s Most Admired Cardiologist followed. When congratulations poured in he only said, “This belongs to every patient who trusted us with their heart and to every young doctor who chooses to stay and innovate for India.”

Today Padma Shri Dr. Bhupathiraju Somaraju continues the work of a lifetime, guided by a simple creed:

“Master the science. Invent for the many. Build institutions that last. And never forget that the true measure of cardiology is a life restored at a cost a family can bear.”