About National Heart Institute The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. . . . . .And that step was taken in 1981 when National Heart Institute (NHI) opened its portals as the Nation’s First Dedicated Cardiac Care Institute and the First Private Sector Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory outside the ‘Developed World’ at that time. NHI was inaugurated by the late Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, as the Clinical Research and Medical Care Delivery Wing of AIHF. The mandate of this stand-alone facility was to provide treatment to people with paying capacity and use the surplus, thus generated, for the treatment of the poor. Today this NABH and NABL accredited hospital’s name is synonymous with quality cardiac care.