(a) whether the Government has undertaken comprehensive study of herbs found in forests of the country with the objective of manufacturing medicines therefrom;
(b) if so, the States in the country where small and big units have been set up for manufacturing medicines from these herbs; and
(c) the details of units set up in public as well as private sector and the efforts being made by the Government to promote them?
THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. ANBUMANI RAMADOSS)
(a)to(c): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 196 FOR 16 MARCH, 2005
(a) A large number of medicinal plants found in forests are used as raw material for production of medicines. A `Demand Study for Selected Medicinal Plants` was commissioned by Government through the Centre for Research, Planning and Action (CERPA), New Delhi, which estimated the requirement of 198054.71 tonnes of medicinal plant based raw materials costing Rs. 1099.18 crore for the year 1999-2000.
(b)&(c): There are approximately 9257 licensed Pharmacies of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy in different parts of the country including 40 pharmacies in the public/cooperative sector, which are engaged in manufacture of the medicines. The State/UT wise details as on 1.4.2003 are as follows:-
Andhra Pradesh 694 Assam 40 Bihar 262 Chhatisgarh 49 Delhi 89 Goa 6 Gujarat 699 Haryana : 375 Himachal Pradesh 72 J&K 9 Karnataka 260 Kerala 800 M.P. 452 Maharashtra 718 Meghalaya 1 Orissa 233 Punjab 149 Rajasthan 366 Sikkim 2 Tamil Nadu 854 U.P. 2268 Uttaranchal 79 West Bengal 693 Chandigarh 3 D&N Haveli 16 Daman & Diu 18 Pondicherry 58
Total 9257