Ayush to open 18 therapy centres more

Ayush, an ayurvedic products and services wing of Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL), will open 18 more ayurvedic therapy centres (ATCs) with an investment of Rs 10-20 lakh in each centre, taking the number of ATCs to 30.

The centres, which will be coming up in Delhi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Surat and Mumbai, will follow the franchisee route that Ayush has been following since its launch mainly to benefit from local expertise. The ayurvedic herbal care products market is estimated at Rs 2,000 crore.

"We are offering the same therapies that spas offer at one-fourth price by cutting unnecessary frills. Customers will also gain from travelling costs as 90 per cent of our thirty centres will be located in the heart of the city," said Vipul Chawla, head (consumer heathcare division), HLL.

Ayush has also received several enquiries from abroad and the company is planning to foray into countries like Singapore, Dubai and Norway. "More than 50 per cent of our current business will come from our franchisees abroad in the next five years," Chawla said.

At present, Ayush gets about 1,500 customers at its 12 ATCs with an average realisation of Rs 300 per customer. Chawla, who was tight-lipped about the total revenues of Ayush, said that that the company was confident that the ATCs will account for nearly 50 per cent of its total revenues in the next five years. It currently stands at five per cent with personal care products accounting for the rest.