Ayurvedic medicine makers go North

Ayurvedic medicine makers go North
Mahesh Kulkarni / Bangalore June 07, 2011, 0:42 IST

Faced with a shortage of medicinal plants, companies in Karnataka shift their units to Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Bihar

Ayurvedic medicine manufacturers from across the country, who at one time sourced a wide range of medicinal plants from Karnataka, have begun moving their manufacturing units to northern India. They have been forced to do so by the growing scarcity of such plants in the state, caused mainly by rapid urbanisation and deforestation.

The states that have benefitted are Bihar and Uttarakhand, which are closer to the Himalayas and produce a large number of medicinal plants and herbs. Chhattisgarh is also a beneficiary of this trend.

Himalaya Drug Company, headquartered in Bangalore, has set up a new plant in Chhattisgarh. Charak Pharmaceuticals, which had a unit in Maddur near Mysore, has closed this and shifted it to Nagpur in Maharashtra. Dhoot Papeshwar is another Karnataka company that has shifted its manufacturing facility.

Karnataka is home to 179 ayurvedic manufacturers, of which 119 are small and medium enterprises. There are not enough raw materials for all of them, said Laxminarayana Shenoy, state programme officer at the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

“Till about five years ago, we had rich sources of raw materials in Karnataka, like Amalaki (Amla or Indian gooseberry), Ashwagandha, Alalekai, Amrutaballi (Sida Cordifolia), Brahmi and Arjuna plants. But due to deforestation, we are not getting some of these medicinal plants in our state. Although Amla grown in other states is inferior to that grown in Karnataka, our manufacturers are sourcing it from Chhattisgarh because it is available at low prices,” he said.

The Chhattisgarh government provides a subsidy to farmers for growing medicinal plants. It also gives incentives like tax concessions to industries for manufacturing. The cost of labour is also very low there compared to Karnataka. Workers are paid Rs 40-60 per day in Chhattisgarh as against Rs 250 per day in Karnataka.

Some raw materials like Hing (Asafoetida) are sourced from Afghanistan, since it is not available in India. Some companies are even going up to Nepal to procure herbs and plants, Shenoy said.

Kartik Pandit, a manufacturer of ayurvedic medicine in Nanjangud (near Mysore) said, “We were dependent on medicinal plants from the Western Ghats in Karnataka for many decades. But due to forest department restrictions we are going to Nepal, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. If the farmers come forward to grow the plants, we are ready to buy from them.”

The Karnataka state forest department has imposed restrictions on entry into forests. Some products like Alalekai – a raw material for making medicines to treat gastro-intestinal diseases – are available only in forests. Other states have no restrictions on sourcing medicinal plants from forest areas, Pandit said.

“We have asked the state forest department to allow us to go into the forests to procure this material. The department should form an agency through which it can procure medicinal plants grown only in forest areas and sell them to manufacturers in a legal way,” Shenoy said.

Quoting the World Health Organisation (WHO), which has recognised ayurveda as traditional medicine, he said the industry size is estimated at Rs 8,000 crore (the cosmetics industry is considered part of this and contributes about Rs 5,000 crore). The industry is growing at 15-20 per cent annually. By 2020, the ayurvedic industry is expected to reach a size of Rs 15,000 crore.

In an effort to make available the required medicinal plants, the Karnataka government is embarking on a massive programme to encourage farmers to grow endangered species of medicinal plants. Considering the huge demand for medicinal plants in both India and export markets, the government has also announced programmes to increase cultivation of medicinal plants.

The state forest department’s Agri-forest support scheme will enable ayurvedic and Unani medicine manufacturers to enter into contract farming agreements with farmers to grow some of the plants through scientific methods.

The department is distributing saplings at a subsidised rate of Rs 10. It has identified trees like neem, tamarind, sandalwood and mango, among others.

The Karnataka government has set up the Medicinal Plants Conservation Authority (MPCA), which is developing protected forests for medicinal plants in 13 selected locations in the state.

“About 90 per cent of the raw materials used in the preparation of ayurvedic medicine are sourced from forest areas. Due to huge demand for traditional medicine and the growth of the cosmetics industry there is a need for growing these plants in a systematic way. The Karnataka government is preparing an action plan for the growth of the industry,” Shenoy said.