Govt takes various initiatives to improve production of Ayush medicines in India: Union minister

New Delhi, July 28, 2022:

The Central government has taken various steps including amendment in the Drugs Rules, 1945 related to the licensing process to increase the number of manufacturing companies and popularise Ayush systems of medicines in the country, says Minister of Ayush Sarbananda Sonowal.

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha on July 26, he said that a total number of 7,914 licensed manufacturing units are there as on April 1, 2020, including 6,998 ayurvedic, 576 Unani and 340 homoeopathic manufacturing facilities in the country.

As part of easing out the licensing process, the Ministry has issued Gazette notification no. G.S.R 716 E for Amendment in the Drugs Rules, 1945 related to licensing process of ASU drugs on 01.10.2021. The amendments have been done with a view to reduce the compliance burden and facilitate ease of doing business.

The process to grant license to manufacture Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani (ASU) drugs has been made swift, paperless and more transparent through online e-aushadhi.gov.inportal.

The license of the ASU drugs have been made perpetual i.e. with one time registration fee the license of the product will be valid lifetime with no further retention or renewal fees thereafter. The maximum time in granting the license to manufacture ASU drugs has been reduced from three months to two months.  

Schemes have been announced to support ayurvedic medicines production, including under National Ayush Mission (NAM) from 2014-2021. Apart from other services Grant-in-aid were also provided for Strengthening of State Government ASU&H Pharmacies. At present, Central Sector Scheme for Ayush Oushadhi Gunavatta evam Uttpadan Samvardhan Yojana (AOGUSY) has been implemented for the year 2021-2026. One of the components of the scheme is Strengthening and up-gradation of Ayush Pharmacies to achieve higher standards.

In addition to this, for facilitating exports, the Ministry of Ayush encourages certifications of Ayush products. This includes Certification of Pharmaceutical Products (CoPP) as per WHO Guidelines for herbal products. Besides, Quality Certifications Scheme has been implemented by the Quality Council of India (QCI) for grant of Ayush Premium mark to ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani products on the basis of third party evaluation of quality in accordance with the status of compliance to international standards.

In order to popularise Indian systems of medicines in urban areas, the Ministry has set up 12 National Institutes under the aegis of Ministry of Ayush. These institutes are engaged in outpatient and Indoor patient services. Five research councils under the Ministry of Ayush are also engaged in co-ordinating, formulating, developing and promoting research on scientific lines in Ayush systems of healthcare.

These Institutes/Councils organises ArogyaMelas, awareness camps, treatment camps for creating awareness on Ayush systems of healthcare among the general public.  The Council conducts research in the diverse areas of Clinical Research, Medicinal Plant Research, Drug Standardization and Quality Control; Pharmacological Research and Literary and Fundamental Research to generate tangible evidence.

Ministry of Ayush has taken various initiatives and significant steps like- issuance of Advisories/Guidelines for general public and Ayush practitioners, campaigns, training of Ayush manpower, communication to states/UTs, establishment of Inter-disciplinary Ayush R&D Task Force, launch of 150 interdisciplinary research studies, Gazette notification for undertaking research on Covid-19 through Ayush systems of medicine, Augmentation of Human Resource, for the mitigation and management of Covid-19, added the minister. Pharmabiz