Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of AYUSH, stated that a threefold increase in market size of Ayurvedic products from $2.5 billion to $8 billion is envisioned by 2022. He was speaking at the Ayurveda Conclave organised by the Ministry of AYUSH and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on October 16, 2017, at New Delhi.
“Ayurveda is witnessing a resurgence in India and around the globe. It advocates preventive healthcare methods of treatment; it is not a system of medicine, but a science of life and longevity,” added the Minister.
The AYUSH Ministry was established in 2014 to promote indigenous healing systems and its priorities include education, standardisation of drugs, and enhancement of availability of raw materials, R&D, communications and larger involvement in the national system for delivering healthcare.
“The government has already begun work on building AIIMS like facilities for Ayurveda across India. To converge the research approach of AYUSH systems with the modern system of medicine, the Ministry of AYUSH and Indian Council of Medicinal Research have decided to have molecular-based studies on specific leads from the Ministry,” observed Mr Naik.
Dr Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, said, “We have to look at research integration and teaching.” Entrepreneurs must leverage the huge demand for Ayurveda, he added, noting that GST has been brought down to 5 per cent to encourage the sectors.
The healthcare market in India is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 23 per cent from 2015 to 2020 and is expected to be a $280 billion market by 2020. Ms Shobana Kamineni, President, CII & Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospital Enterprise, noted that only 10 per cent of the Indian population goes to Ayurvedic centres. “Ayurveda’s rich heritage and recognition as an alternative system of medicine in developed countries provide a good foundation to set an ambitious growth goal defined by increasing by market share, customer access and profitability in both India and global markets,” she said.
Dr Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS, commented that intervention is required in terms of upgrading infrastructure, and conducting extensive research and process standardizations to take this ancient system of holistic healing to the masses. Ayurveda has the potential to become an affordable component of a holistic healthcare system and help realize the dream of “inclusive healthcare in India” for all.
Rajiv Vasudevan, Chairman-CII Core Group on Ayurveda & MD, AyurVAID Hospitals, said that CII moots for a concerted effort for commencing core research activities and preservation and availability of raw herbs for manufacturing different formulations. Also, new facilities should be opened up for Ayurveda in non-communicable diseases, geriatrics, and degenerative diseases. He urged the government to make it possible for qualified physicians to practice exclusive Ayurveda and health insurance providers to include Ayurveda in their package.
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Vaishali Dar is a Senior Associate Editor with BW Businessworld and Editorial Head with BW Disrupt. She writes on corporates, start-ups, hospitality and travel
