The delay in taking off commercial operation of the Traditional Ayush Cluster of Tamil Nadu (TACT) is creating severe hardships to the manufacturers of Ayush in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, according to industry sources.

The aim of formation of the cluster was to give technical support to the ISM industry and develop the traditional systems of treatment in these states, but the present situation is pathetic, sources added.

“The ISM manufacturers are struggling to conduct validation tests for their products because of lack of adequate number of testing labs. The high rates charged by the private laboratories are beyond their means as most of the Ayush industries are SSI units. The expectation on the Ayush cluster is in vain. We are frustrated”, an industry source told Pharmabiz.

Even when the manufacturers close to the cluster project say that it is moving on a snail’s pace, the president of the TN Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani Drug Manufacturers Association (TASUDMA), Vijay Mehtha, comments that, ‘no significant progress has taken place in the development of the cluster’.

When asked about the cause of the delay, sources from Siddha and Ayurveda manufacturing industry have attributed various reasons, and a serious allegation they made was that no adequate cooperation was derived from members of the unit in taking the project forward. According to them the chairman of the unit is unable to take all members forward in order to have a unanimous decision on everything. This has distanced many a member from the cluster project.

Whereas, the clusters in the neighboring states, Kerala and Karnataka, have already started operations and the Ayush industry in these two states are improving, according to information received.

TACT was a Rs. 16 crore project meant for developing manufacturing hub, authentic raw material pooling, testing and analysing laboratories and common facility for training.  

In 2009, when the project plan was taken for implementation, 25 manufacturing companies with GMP facilities came together and floated a ‘special purpose vehicle’ (SPV). The central ayush department had sanctioned Rs. 10 crore, out of which a major sum has already been released in two tranches.  For the remaining amount, members decided to accumulate Rs. two crore and avail loan of Rs. 4 crore from bank.

Due to differences in opinions and disunity among members, the Ayush cluster project is yet to kick off in Tamil Nadu which is the hub of Siddha system of medicines and a home of Ayurveda, Unani and Homoeopathy medicines.

An urgent attention of the central Ayush department and the Ayush minister is sought in this regard by the industry here.