The Department of Small Scale Industries has initiated a study to analyse the impact of WTO reforms on the medicinal biotech sector and identify products which had good potential in the international and national market, according to P.M.Mathew, Director, Institution of Small Enterprises and Development.

He said the study team had also been asked to recommend measures for promotion of biotech medicines. Stating that herbal medicines could be divided into five categories, he said there was acute scarcity of herbal resources in the country. "Resource management was an important area of concern. An ideal conservation strategy, including setting up of a medicinal plant garden and gene bank," he said, adding that the strategy could also provide employment for lakh of people.

He said assuming that 50 per cent of the total business of Indian drugs and pharmaceuticals industry were from the herbal formulations, the herbal medicinal industry''s turnover would be close to Rs 4,000 crore.

Explaining the trends in the medicinal biotechnology, Mathew said there was a marked shift in consumer preference from allopathic drugs to Ayurvedic drugs due to the latter''s negligible side-effects. People also realised that Ayurvedic drugs were less expensive and environment-friendly.