Parks to promote Ayush products

The Union government of India has announced that it plans to develop a network of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy) Parks to promote research and manufacturing various AYUSH products across the country.

The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, spoke at Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit at Mahatma Mandir of Gandhinagar, Gujarat, announcing, “The government will develop a network of Ayush Parks to encourage the promotion, research, and manufacturing of Ayush products across the country.”

Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit is a three-day summit being held by the Union ministry of AYUSH starting on April 20, 2022. This event was inaugurated by the union prime minister of India in the presence of the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, and Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, the Director-General o the world Health Organization (WHO). Among other dignitaries present were Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers; Sarbananda Sonowal, the  Union Ayush Minister; Munjapara Mahendra, the Union Minister of State for Ayush and   Bhupendra Patel the Chief Minister of Gujarat were among those present.

The Prime Minister added that the idea of the Global Ayush Investment & Innovation Summit had come to him during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic when traditional health systems of AYUSH provided strong support in improving the immunity of the people and the market for AYUSH products saw a surge of interest and demand.

Recalling Indian efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, he observed the promise shown by the nation’s modern pharma companies and vaccine manufacturers, provided they get investment at the right time. “Who could have imagined that we would be able to develop a corona vaccine so soon?” he wondered.

Describing the commendable strides made by the AYUSH medicinal systems, he commented, “We are already witnessing unprecedented growth in the production of Ayush medicines, supplements, and cosmetics. In 2014, where the Ayush sector was less than USD 3 billion, today it has increased to more than USD18 billion.”

He announced that the Union Ministry of Ayush is already taking several significant steps to encourage a new startup culture in traditional medicines. Only a few days back, an incubation center developed by the prestigious All India Institute of Ayurveda was inaugurated, he informed.

Describing the current age, the era of unicorns, the Union Prime Minister of India informed that within the year 2022 itself, 14 startups from India had joined the Unicorn Club so far. “I am sure unicorns will emerge from our Ayush startups very soon,” he dreamed.

“Our Ayush experts are developing ISO standards in collaboration with the Bureau of Indian Standards. That will open a huge export market for Ayush in more than 150 countries”.

He also announced that FSSAI now has a new category named ‘Ayush Aahar’ in its regulations since last week. That will greatly facilitate the producers of these herbal nutritional supplements. India is also going to make a unique Ayush mark. That new mark will be applied only to the highest quality Ayush products, and the Ayush mark will be equipped with modern technology. “This will give people worldwide the confidence of quality Ayush products,” he commented.

He also noted the role of traditional medicines of India in increasing the tourism of Kerala. “This potential is there in every corner of India. ‘Heal in India’ can become a big brand in this decade. Wellness centers based on Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, etc., can be very popular,” he said.

“Very soon, India is going to introduce a special Ayush visa category. This will facilitate people to travel to India for Ayush therapy,” he informed the public.