subject: INDIAN HERBAL TRADE IN WORLD SCENARIO [print this page] INDIAN HERBAL TRADE IN WORLD SCENARIO INDIAN HERBAL TRADE IN WORLD SCENARIO
The utilization of herbal drugs is on the flow andthe market is growing step by step. The annual turnover of the Indian herbal medicinal industry isabout Rs. 2,300 crore as against the pharmaceuticalindustry's turnover of Rs. 14,500 crores with a growthrate of 15 percent . The export of medicinal plantsand herbs from India has been quite substantial in thelast few years. India is the second largest producer ofcastor seeds in the world, producing about 1,25,000tonnes per annum. The major pharmaceuticals exportedfrom India in the recent years are isabgol, opiumalkaloids, senna derivatives, vinca extract, cinchonaalkaloids, ipecac root alkaloids, solasodine,Diosgenine/16DPA, Menthol, gudmar herb, mehdileaves, papian, rauwolfia guar gum, Jasmine oil, agarwood oil, sandal wood oil, etc. The turnover ofherbal medicines in India as over-the-counter products,ethical and classical formulations and home remediesof traditional systems of medicine is about $ one billionand export of herbal crude extract is about $ 80 million. The herbal drug market in India is about $1 billion.
In India, It is estimated that there are about 25,000licensed pharmacy of Indian system of medicine.Presently about 1000 single drugs and about 3000compound formulations are registered. Herbal industryin India uses about 8000 medicinal plants.However, none of the pharma hasstandardized herbal medicines using active compoundsas markers linked with confirmation of bioactivity ofherbal drugs in experimental animal models.about 8000 drug manufactures in India, there arehowever not more than 25 manufactures that can beclassified as large scale manufactures.
The annualturnover of Indian herbal industry was estimated aroundUS $ 300 million in Ayurvedic and Unani medicinewas about US $ 27.7 million. In 1998-1999 again wentupto US $ 31.7 million and in 1999-2000 of the totalturnover was US $ 48.9 million of Ayurvedic andherbal products. Export of herbal drugs in India isaround $ 80 million. Some of the highly consumedmedicinal plants are presented in the Table 3 withreference to their turnover.
