Lucknow, Feb 13 : A US-based Saloni Heart Foundation will collaborate with Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Science (SGPGIMS) and Institute of Medical Sciences, Varanasi to aid children with congenital heart diseases. A delegation comprising founder president Mrinalini Sethi and others associated with the not-for-profit organisation met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and pledged to invest Rs 500 crore for the cause. A government spokesperson said the chief minister acknowledged that many children are born with heart diseases in the state and countless of them require surgery within the first year of life, failing which they may die. "Keeping this in mind, a centre of excellence in paediatric cardiology should be established at SGPGI as soon as possible," the spokesperson said, citing the chief minister. The foundation will begin by extending support for a 30-bed unit and then take it to 200 beds. They claimed that once functional, the unit would facilitate surgery for 5,000 kids. /IANS