The Hindu Business Line : Ayurveda majors in jt venture for common brand

A JOINT venture project, aimed at promoting the State as a global destination for sourcing Ayurvedic products and services, has been launched in Kerala.

The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) and the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Kinfra) have taken the lead to bring the Ayurvedic product manufacturers in the State together. They will try to form a special purpose vehicle, styled Confederation of Ayurvedic Renaissance-Keralam Pvt Ltd (CARe-Keralam).

Some of the major companies like Pankajakasthuri, The Arya Vaidya Pharmacy, Vaidyaratnam Oushadasala, Nagarjuna, Sitaram, Sreedhareeyam, S.D. Pharmacy, Kandamkulathy, Dhanwantari and Kerala Ayurveda Pharmacy, have already joined as members of the consortium.

The project is coming up on a 10-acre plot in Kinfra Park at Koratty in Thrissur district. It will have a common raw material supply centre, a quality control laboratory and research and development facility. The company will also work on documentation of various Ayurvedic products, which is necessary for marketing the products as drugs in the global market.

An important feature of the project is providing a common brand logo to the members of the consortium. For this purpose, the products and services will be standardised. In the first phase, the company will take up only generic Ayurvedic formulations for the branding purpose.

According to Mr P.K. Kunhalikutty, Industries Minister, the project is coming up under the Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (IIUS) of the Union Government. Under the scheme, the Centre will provide 75 per cent of the project cost as a grant. Out of the remaining 25 per cent, the industry will contribute 15 per cent, while the balance will be provided by institutions like KSIDC and Kinfra.

The company will initially have a capital base of Rs 10 crore, with each share priced at Rs. 10,000. Each member will have to take a minimum number of 10 shares. Already, 16 firms have joined the company and more than 100 other manufacturers have expressed interest in joining the consortium.

The Minister told newspersons here on Monday that the company would ensure standardisation of raw material input, manufacturing process and end-products. Though the brand names of the individual companies will be retained, the products will be brought under the umbrella of a common label.

The idea for the project stemmed from a sectoral study done by KSIDC last year, which revealed that Kerala's contribution to the Rs 4,000-crore annual turnover logged by the Indian Ayurvedic industry was only Rs 200 crore. This is despite the fact that the State's rich heritage in Ayurveda stretches back over the past 5,000 years and that the State has over 200 good manufacturing practice-certified (GMP) manufacturers.

Koratty Kinfra Park: Meanwhile, the industrial park of Kinfra at Koratty will be formally inaugurated by the Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, on Friday. The park has come up on a 30-acre plot under the Integrated Infrastructure Development Scheme of the Union Government.

So far, land has been allotted to 12 companies, which include KSE Ltd, Elite Foods Private Ltd, Moksha Foods and Beverages, Welfit Auto Care Industries and Remedix Research Labs.

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