An Indian businessman who recovered from coronavirus has converted his office into an 85-bed facility to provide free treatment for the poor.

The coronavirus epidemic is still raging in the world’s second-most populous nation, with the number of infections passing 1.5 million on Wednesday, and almost 35,000 deaths. A lack of testing could mean the true tally is much higher.

With public hospitals struggling to cope, Kadar Shaikh spent 20 days in a private clinic last month in the western city of Surat – and was horrified by the bill.

“The cost of treatment at a private hospital was huge. How could poor people afford such treatment?” property developer Shaikh told Agence France-Presse. “So I decided to do something and contribute in the fight against the deadly virus.”

Once back on his feet, Shaikh secured approval from local authorities to convert his 2,800-sq metre (30,000-sq ft ) office premises in Gujarat, the home state of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.

The government provides and pays for the staff, medical equipment and medicine, while Shaikh bought the beds and bears the cost of bed linen and electricity.

Anyone can be admitted, he said, regardless of “caste, creed or religion”.

It emerged this week that more than half the people living in the slums of Mumbai have had the coronavirus, according to a city-commissioned study.

Blood tests on 6,936 randomly selected people conducted by city authorities found that 57% of slum-dwellers and 16% of non-slum residents had virus antibodies, the study said.

Mumbai, India’s financial centre and most populous city, where about 40% of the population lives in slums, has reported just over 110,000 infections and more than 6,000 deaths so far.