Aimed at implementing the concept of Health for All through the concept of Ayurveda, the second Ayurveda industry cluster namely Maharashtra Ayurved Centre Pvt Ltd. (MAC) at Pune under the Centre's Ayush scheme is planning to launch an online e-commerce portal - www.ayurways.biz to offer a common marketing platform for farmers, traders, doctors, researchers, pharmacists and other stakeholders across the state.

Says Dr Sunita Belgamwar, chairperson of MAC, "The online business platform, likely to be operational from January 1, 2014, will not only help 43 members of MAC Pune but will also serve as a common interface for our distribution channels like Ayurveda Healthstore, Cafetaria, Exhibition and Pharmacy which will facilitate display of over 700 ayurvedic products under different brands."

The project envisaged to benefit around 900 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through interventions like exhibition, production, contract manufacturing, raw material processing will translate into 50 per cent cost saving in the respective businesses of the stakeholders.

The project cost of MAC Pune cluster which is the second Ayurveda cluster after Konkan in the state is Rs.17 crore of which an installment of Rs.4 crore is being awaited from the central government. Pune cluster will house a ayurvedic cafe for the development of Ayurveda cuisine, a dedicated raw material processing centre for supply of standardized, graded, certified and processed raw materials in bulk to the ayurvedic manufacturers.

The procurement of the raw materials will be done by the cluster from the farmers growing herbal and medicinal plants across the country by setting up backward linkages. A subsidy of Rs.3 crore has been released over a period of three years to the farmers in the state.

Spanning an area of 45,000 square feet built up facility, the cluster will have a common facility centre at Kolewadi with its corporate office at Pune. The project is also estimated to give employment to 108 people directly and 1000 people indirectly. It is also envisaged to establish EU/USA FDA approved manufacturing facilities in three years, setting up advanced teaching institutes, create exclusive exports division in five years, establish 15 exclusive herbal and Ayurveda products distribution centres (Ayurways stores) by 2015 across Maharashtra.