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Sravanthi Challapalli

Chennai , Dec. 9

ARYA Vaidya Pharmacy (AVP) plans to take its operations to Northern India. The Rs 17-crore Coimbatore-based ayurveda major is also extending its OTC brand, Heal, by promoting it through the ethical route among allopathic doctors , said the company's Managing Director, Mr P.R. Krishnakumar.

Speaking to Business Line, he said though AVP had never been a commercial institution, it needed to expand its activities to promote ayurveda, which was its primary concern. The Heal range of products will be available in chemists' and general stores in the next three months. They include skincare products, pain balm and soap.

The company, however, is not keen on advertising them as it does not want to be seen as "diluting" its brand equity, said Mr Krishnakumar. Also, the time-consuming manufacturing processes will prevent them from being supplied readily on demand.

AVP, though has made a beginning by expanding its factory, is planning to set up two more units to expand the Heal range. In this connection, he said AVP's Ayurveda Trust had been awarded a grant for conducting collaborative research in ayurveda by the National Institute of Health, US. This is the first such grant the institute has awarded, he said, adding that this project was an important step to put ayurveda on a scientific footing globally.

AVP has set up marketing centres in Delhi, Rajasthan and Gujarat to tie up with people interested in setting up clinics in those regions. While it has set up a few treatment centres in Punjab, Haryana and New Delhi, the objective is to set up a hospital for in-patients on the lines of its 120-bed Arya Vaidya Chikitsalayam, which has treated the likes of the Prime Minister, Mr A.B. Vajpayee, and the former President, Mr K.R. Narayanan.

AVP also seeks to promote ayurveda by tying up with hotels and resorts in India and abroad through its trusts — Ayushman and Tejas. Many hotels of the Taj group in the South have allied with AVP for their health centres. The therapies on offer are usually cosmetic and rejuvenative in nature but the range of treatment offered depends on the centre. For instance, the Taj Residency at Kozhikode has an in-patient centre and patients can avail themselves of all the intensive therapies that are given in AVP's Coimbatore Chikitsalayam.

AVP also endorses Hindustan Lever's Ayush range of products and runs its Ayush centres in Chennai and Bangalore. It may also supply HLL its kumkumadi thailam (an oil) for use in its ayurvedic Fair & Lovely, Mr Krishnakumar said.

AVP also makes the skin-, hair- and body-care products marketed by Kama Ayurveda, which is co-promoted by Coimbatore-based businesswoman, Ms Rajashree Pathy.

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