R

Kochi, Apr 8 (UNI) 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 ayurveda 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 was 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 was giving Rs 25 crore, the KSIDC AND KINFRA Rs 2.7 crore and the Ayurvedic Industry Associations Rs 5.5 crore, Joy Verghese, Technical Advisor (Herbal), KINFRA, told UNI 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 added.

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.

MORE UNI