The Hindu Business Line : Ayurveda majors plan common brand

IN a bid to promote Kerala as the authentic destination for ayurveda, leading ayurveda product companies and pharmacies in the State are teaming up to establish standards and common practices in the ancient medical system.

About 20-30 firms, including prominent names such as Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala, Nagarajuna Ayuvedic Group, Arya Vaidya Pharmacy Coimbatore and Pankaja Kasthuri, will together set up a company that will work on establishing quality standards and practices as well as building the Kerala ayurveda brand. The project is being done under the aegis of Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC). Official sources said it would come up at the Kinfra Park at Koratty, Thrissur.

The participating firms will be the stakeholders of the new company, being set up under the Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme so that it gets 75 per cent of the project cost as government's grant, the sources said.

The KSIDC will also be a shareholder in the proposed company, which will go on steam shortly.

"The effort is to evolve common standards for ayurveda in the State. Today you don't have such standards in place and different players are following different practices. This often affects the credibility," the sources pointed out.

A common laboratory established under the company will test raw materials used for medicines and ensure that they conform to the prescribed standards. Ayurvedic treatments such as `Pizhichil', `Njavarakkizhi', `Dhara' and `Nasyam' will also be standardised to ensure that various practitioners use the same quality of medicines and herbal oils in those methods.

The lab will also issue labels and certificates to the products and services complying with the standards. "This company will act as the apex body stipulating the standards," the sources said.

One of the major reasons that prompted the State to go in for such a step is the proliferation of mediocre or even fake ayurvedic centres that target gullible foreign tourists. Once the lab starts functioning, this issue affecting the credibility of ayurveda will be tackled.

According to Mr J. Hareendran Nair, Managing Director of Pankaja Kasthuri Herbals India, the move is aimed at promoting Kerala's ayurveda in the national and global markets by ensuring its quality.

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