The Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) in consultation with the Medicinal Plant Board is currently working on a development strategy draft for the medicinal plant sector in the country. The Council, which was entrusted by the ministry of commerce to undertake this task, would formulate strategies also for promoting Indian medicinal plants globally in consultation with the Board, said DB Mody, chairman, Pharmexcil.

The above project is part of the Central Government's initiatives to promote the herbal sector and has found it as a thrust area, considering the rich resources available in India for the development of Medicinal plants commercially and also the global demand for the herbal extracts and nutraceuticals.

Having realised the importance and relevance of medicinal plants sector to drugs and pharmaceuticals, and also convinced by the role played by the Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) during the last one year after its inception, the union minister for commerce and industry, Kamal Nath has entrusted the responsibility for formulating a development plan for the Indian herbal sector.

Answering an Urgent Public Importance (Special Mention), raised in the Rajya Sabha, the minister has recently stated that Medicinal Plants Board is coordinating on the matters relating to the development of medicinal plants in the country. The Board has formulated and implemented various schemes, including 'Contract Farming' which pertains specifically to the cultivation of commercially important identified medical plants.

In the last three years, the Board has sanctioned more than 2,200 projects covering about 61,000 acres of land, involving grant-in-aid of around Rs 56.47 crore. The Board has been requested to further policy initiatives.

Mody added, "Pharmexcil, as a specialized body for promotion of exports, would make full use of its world-wide contacts and expertise to make this happening, particularly in converting the vast export potential of this sector into an opportunity for gainful employment of the rural people and making fullest possible use of national resources. Initial consultations with the Medicinal Plants Board have already begun."