Oushadhi to make cosmetic foray

Oushadhi, the Kerala state-owned pharmaceutical corporation, has lined up plans to make a foray into the cosmetics segment in a major way by launching a slew of beautycare products.

The cosmecutics foray, as Oushadhi officials term it, is expected in three months.

Officials said that the company was planning to hit the market with shampoos, hair dyes, face packs and toilet soaps under the Oushadhi brand name.

The company is in the process of drawing up the total investment for the project, senior officials at Oushadhi's headquarters in Thrissur told Business Standard, adding that a good chunk of money would be used for advertising the products in a big way.

Oushadhi also has plans to launch a commercial variant of its Aparajitha Dhoomachoornam, a mosquito repellent powder, in coil form soon. This apart, it also has plans to make a splash by unveiling food supplements in the domestic market.

The plans on the anvil are part of the company's efforts at expansion, according to Oushadhi managing director K K Chandran. The expansion is aimed at tapping the ever-growing consumer market.

With all this in mind, Oushadhi will soon set up a production unit at Pariyaram in Kannur in northern Kerala to step up production of Oushadhi products. The company has received an amount of Rs 50 lakh in this regard.

Among its proposed diversification plans is to start one-year courses in pharmacy and nursing.

The ayurveda para-medical courses the state-run corporation plans to start will focus more on training paramedical staff and masseurs, with an eye on the burgeoning health tourism scene in the state. Oushadhi has already forwarded a proposal in this regard to the state government and is awaiting the response.

Further, Oushadhi has also lined up a specialty centre for ayurveda and yoga at Sasthamangalam in the state capital. The centre is expected to go on stream in a few months.

Besides, the corporation is in parleys with the authorities of Aralam farm to grow medicinal plants, which form the basic raw materials for Oushadhi products, on 100 acres of land at the farm.

The Medicinal Plant Board has sanctioned an amount of Rs 30 lakh for a medicinal plant semi-processing unit, officials added. Oushadhi, at present, manufactures more than 450 ayurvedic formulations.