India to introduce Ayush mark for traditional medicine products, Ayush visa: PM Modi

PTI

Gandhinagar, April 20

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that to promote the traditional medicine industry, India will soon launch ‘Ayush mark’ which will give authenticity to quality Ayush products made in the country.

Speaking of "Heal in India", he also announced that a special visa category will be created soon for those who want to travel to the country to avail Ayush therapies.

Modi was speaking after the inauguration of the three-day Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit at Mahatma Mandir here in the presence of Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth and Director General of the World Health Organization Tredos Ghebreyesus.

‘Ayush’ denotes Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy. India has a central ministry dedicated to these alternative medicine systems.

“India will soon introduce the Ayush mark, which will give authenticity to quality Ayush products of the country. The mark will be given to products vetted using the latest technology. This will give confidence to the people of the world that they are purchasing quality Ayush products,” Modi said.

"Traditional medicine helped increase tourism in Kerala. This power is in the whole of India, in every corner of India. 'Heal in India' can become a big brand of this decade. Wellness centres based on Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, etc., can be very popular," the prime minister said.

The special "Ayush visa" will help those who wish to seek traditional treatments in India, he said.

The possibilities of investment and innovation in the field of Ayush are limitless with the country having witnessed unprecedented growth in the production of Ayush medicines, supplements and cosmetics, the prime minister said.

"Before 2014, the Ayush sector was less than USD 3 billion. Today it has also crossed USD 18 billion," he said.

"In India, this is an era of unicorns. In 2022, so far 14 start-ups from India have joined the unicorn club. I am sure unicorns will emerge from our Ayush start-ups very soon," Modi said.

The Covid pandemic led to an increase in the export of turmeric which was seen as immunity-booster, Modi noted. 

During the same period, modern pharmaceutical companies developed made-in-India Covid vaccines in a very short time, showing "how amazing they were when they got investment at the right time," he said.

"Who could have imagined that so soon we would be able to develop a made-in-India corona vaccine? Innovation and investment increase the capacities of any sector. Time has come to increase investment in the Ayush sector as well, and this summit is a wonderful launch of the same," Modi said.