The Chennai-based Indian Medical Practitioners' Co-operative Pharmacy and Stores Ltd (Impcops), an association of traditional medicine practitioners in Tamil Nadu, plans to step up its sales to Rs 35 crore in the next five years. Currently the Impcops facility in Thiruvanmiyur manufactures medicinal products for Rs 17 crore but the society has orders for double of this production, sources from the society told Pharmabiz.

To achieve this goal the Society has decided to upgrade its manufacturing facility and testing lab with Rs 6 crore. For financial assistance Impcops will approach Ayush department, Ministry of SME and Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation. The project proposals for upgradation will be submitted to these institutions also, sources said.

For preparing a project proposal and for technical upgradation, Impcops has identified Dr M Usman Ali and Dr T Thirunarayanan of Centre for Traditional Medicines and Research as consultants of the project. On fulfilment of the amount the project will be completed in six months, the consultants while speaking to Pharmabiz said.

They said the society seeks to upgrade its existing facility for meeting the current demand and for the future market. Improvement in productivity, good environment conditions and better packaging facilities will help to expand its business to other states also. While it plans to increase productivity, the society’s ultimate aim is to reduce the cost of production. At present Impcops is not able to satisfy its total demand of 20 crore.

The main areas of upgradation are Arka (are for distillating herbs) and Rasaushadhi (area for metallic mineral preparation). These two will cost for Rs 4 crore and laboratory expansion will need another Rs 2 crore. In the facility, the capacity of utilities like boiler, generator, Reverse Osmosis plant for producing high quality demineralized water and energy conservation machinery. In the laboratory, new instruments to test heavy metals and microbial contaminations will be set up.

Sixty four year old Impcops has a membership of 14350 medical practitioners and additionally a number of institutional members. The society’s another manufacturing facility at Thadepallikkudam in Andhra Pradesh, which is closed down due to many reasons for years, will be re-opened along with this upgradation project.