Kerala: R

Kochi, Apr 8: Spurred by the bad name got by Ayurveda and Siddha drugs overseas due to alleged presence of heavy metals, the Centre has joined hands with the Kerala Government and industry players to set up a state-of-the-art research and development centre to carry out toxicity studies on these medicines.

The R&D Centre, part of a Rs 33 crore cluster development project to create infrastructure for the Kerala Ayurvedic industry, will consist of an analytical laboratory, a toxicity study centre and a pilot plant. It is to come up at Koratty in Thrissur district of Kerala.

Besides the Central Government department of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yunani, Siddha and Homoeopathy), the project is being funded by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC), Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) and more than 50 industry players who have got together under the banner of 'Care Kerala'.

Of the total project cost of Rs 33 crore, the Central Government is giving Rs 25 crore, the KSIDC AND KINFRA Rs 2.7 crore and the Ayurvedic industry associations Rs 5.5 crore, Dr Joy Verghese, Technical Advisor (Herbal), KINFRA, told sources here.

''We are hopeful of the Central government funds being released in the new financial year. The contribution from the industry has already come in. It will take about one year to set up the centre,'' Dr Verghese said.

Such an initiative had become essential following the controversy generated by the decision of the US and Canadian authorities a couple of years ago to ban the import of certain Ayurveda and Siddha drugs, alleging that these contained harmful heavy metals such as mercury, he said.

Also, for the Ayurveda manufacturers to tap the vast export market, it was necessary that the products met international standards such as documented validation of products and processes and documented quality control procedures.

It was also important that the toxicity profile of the medicines be explained and the efficacy of the medicines be scientifically proved and documented. There should be a quality assurance protocol and little batch to batch variation in products, Dr Verghese said. ''The main purpose of our establishing all these mechanisms is to promote exports, especially by upgrading Ayurvedic drugs and cosmetics manufacturers to compete in the international market. We would also like to establish a Kerala brand of Ayurvedic products,'' he added.

Citing an EXIM Bank report, he said the world herbal industry market was worth USD 62 billion and this was growing at an annual rate of seven per cent. By 2050, the world market for herbal products is estimated to reach USD six trillion.

The Indian herbal industry was estimated at about Rs 4205 crore with exports estimated at Rs 440 crore. Of this, the Kerala industry was less than Rs 400 crore with an export turnover of Rs 40 crore.

''Clearly, there is a vast market waiting to be tapped and we have to gear up ourselves to make our products internationally acceptable,'' he added.

The toxicity study centre would be accredited by an international organisation and would be able to conduct acute, sub-chronic and chronic toxicity studies and mutagenic studies.

Apart from the toxicity study centre, there would also be an analytical laboratory and a pilot plant to perform all modern formulation and product validation studies.

The setting up of the R&D Centre was part of the first phase of the cluster development programme to develop the Kerala Ayurveda Industry. Besides this, the first phase would also concentrate on making a common brand for Kerala Ayurvedic products and setting up a marketing infrastructure through offshore offices in Europe, West Asia and the US.

In the second and third phases of the project, which had already been chalked out, it was planned to set up a data centre for patent protection, GMP training and a technology transfer centre besides a common facility centre for speciality production and packaging, he added.

UNI