STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The State-run AAP (Assam Ayurvedic Products) is likely to be handed over to the Baba Ramdeva's 'Patanjali Ayurveda Ltd' at a time when the Union government is talking of a slew of major initiatives to boost the traditional medicinal practices in Assam.
The 'Assam Ayurvedic Products" — a unit of the ASIDC (Assam Small Industries Development Corporation) is among the most reputed names in the city. With its factory at Bamunimaidam, the AAP provides the best Ayurvedic medical care and treatment to patients.
Even as there is no official confirmation, sources informed that the Patanjali has expressed its willingness to take over the AAP with its two bighas of land situated besides the main road in Bamunimaidam and the 118 bighas of land at Mandakata in North Guwahati.
On September 26, Patanjali Ayurveda Ltd managing director Acharya Balkrishna had met State industries minister Chandra Mohan Patowary and held initial discussion on taking over the unit.
However, there is no final deep signed between the two groups, sources said adding that the State government will finalise the deal with full security of the employees and production staff of the unit.
Patanjali Ayurveda Ltd has been running Rs 1000-crore herbal and mega food park at Balipara in Sonitpur District.
The Patanjali is also constructing its biggest plant in Assam along a stretch of 1,100 acre of land in Chirang District. The company was also allotted 500 bighas of land in Karbi Anglong for setting up of another production plant.
In September, the Patanjali had signed a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the TTRI (Tocklai Tea Research Institute) for research and extracting chemical compounds from tea leaves and seeds.
Set up in 1967, the AAP is one of the oldest surviving units of this kind in the Northeast. Presently, it has an annual turnover of Rs 1.5 crore.
The AAP produces quality and dependable Ayurvedic medicines having its reputation amongst the users. It also follows the ancient indigenous methods of Ayurveda. For more than four decades, this organisation has been serving people with quality and dependable medicines.
Presently, the unit is manufacturing about 137 types of different Ayurvedic medicines based on the Indian Shastric formulae besides 12 patented medicines — which have fairly good demand in the local market and enjoy the reputation as genuine products.
However, the first and the second Covid-19 pandemic phases dealt major blows to the production units, as the sales slided during this period.
The unit can't pay its salaries and wages to its 17-odd employees from its own coffers as it could not produce sufficient stock during pandemic period.
The unit has to depend on raw materials from Kolkata as its own raw materials from the Mandakata plantation site are not sufficient for production.
In addition to this, the unit has to depend on sale in private medicine shops as the government-run hospitals prefer to purchase medicine from private dealers other than purchasing from its own production unit.
It is surprising why the Union ministry of Ayush headed by Sarbananda Sonowal never thought of improvement of the condition of this unit when he talked of promotion of traditional medicines in the region.
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