New Delhi, Aug. 30 -- The Delhi government is set to empanel 100 additional hospitals in next 10 days under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), expanding the healthcare facilities for beneficiaries across the city. The updated list is likely to include Fortis Healthcare, a prominent hospital chain. With this expansion, the total number of empaneled hospitals under the scheme will reach to 165, said Health Minister Dr Pankaj Singh on Thursday. A formal launch is scheduled for September first week. As per the list provided by the National Health Authority (NHA), 151 hospitals in Delhi are currently empanelled under the scheme. Of these, 107 are private hospitals and 44 are government-run facilities. "In last couple of weeks, we have increased the list of empanelled hospitals under Ayushman in the city," the minister told HT. Asked why top private hospitals such as Fortis, Max, and Apollo had not been in the list, Singh said many healthcare institutions are hesitant to join due to pending payments under the previous Delhi Arogya Kosh (DAK) scheme. "Nearly Rs.100 crore in bills were pending with the previous government, of which a large sum has now been cleared. Fortis has already applied to join the panel," he said. Fortis did not respond to the queries on whether it has been included in the empanelled list. The DAK scheme, launched by the AAP government, provided financial assistance of up to Rs.5 lakh to eligible patients for treatment in government hospitals across Delhi-NCR region. Delhi health department officials said that since the launch, a total of Rs.13,337 crore has been paid for AB-PMJAY card users, of which Rs.3.75 crore has been contributed by the Delhi government. On April 10, a MoU was inked with the ministry of health and family welfare to implement the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission in the city. With this, national capital Delhi has become the 35th state or UT to adopt the scheme. Under the scheme, eligible families will receive an annual health coverage of up to Rs.10 lakh --Rs.5 lakh from the Centre and an additional Rs.5 lakh as a top-up from the Delhi government, as earlier announced by the Delhi state government....