PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the Global AYUSH Investment & Innovation Summit in Gandhinagar

Noting that this was the era of unicorns in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday expressed the hope that startups from the AYUSH sector would join the list soon.

"This is the era of unicorns in India. In the year 2022 itself, so far 14 start-ups from India have joined the Unicorn Club. I am sure unicorns will emerge from our AYUSH start-ups very soon," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a three-day visit to Gujarat, was speaking at the inauguration of the Global AYUSH Investment and Innovation Summit in Gandhinagar.

He said that the Ministry of AYUSH has taken several major steps to encourage startup culture in the field of Traditional Medicines. A few days back, an incubation center developed by the All India Institute of Ayurveda was inaugurated, he noted.

Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth and WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus were present at the summit, which is being held at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar.

The Ministry of Ayush tweeted, “Hon'ble Prime Minister, inaugurates the Global Ayush Investment & Innovation Summit 2022 at Mahatama Mandir, Gandhinagar - the 3-day event is dedicated to highlighting the role of #Ayush in bringing about a new health revolution.”

Prime Minister Modi also digitally launched the Ayush Export Promotion Council on this occasion. He also launched IT initiatives like Ayush Information Hub, Ayush next, and Ayusoft.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Prime Minister Jugnauth said that India is known as the pharmacy of the world. He said that India would emerge as the leader in Ayush, Ayurveda and traditional medicine also.

Speaking on this occasion, WHO DG Dr Tedros said that India will go to the whole world and the whole world will come to India through AYUSH.

He said that the growth in the Ayush sector was significant, and that the Ayush industry had grown 17% per year since 2014 and that it was projected to be 23 billion dollars by the end of this year.

PM Modi said that we have seen that the modern pharma companies, who are vaccine manufacturers, have shown a great deal if they get investment at the right time. "Who could have imagined that we would be able to develop a corona vaccine so quickly?" he remarked.

Prime Minister Modi said that this indicates that innovation and investment can increase the strength of any sector. He said that the AYUSH sector will attract maximum investment in the future and it begins today.

He said that the possibilities of investment and innovation in the field of AYUSH were limitless. "We are already witnessing unprecedented growth in the production of AYUSH medicines, supplements and cosmetics. He said that the AYUSH sector was less than $3 billion in 2014, which has now crossed $ 18 billion," he pointed out.

The PM further said that traditional medicine helped in increasing the tourism of Kerala. This power was in the whole of India, in every corner of India, he added.

He said that ‘Heal in India’ could become a big brand of this decade. Wellness centers based on Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha can be very popular. He also announced a new category for Indian VISA- Ayush VISA, so that foreigners can avail the benefit of Indian expertise in Ayush sector.

PM Modi said that FSSAI has also announced a new category named ‘AYUSH Aahar’ in its regulations last week. This will greatly facilitate the producers of herbal nutritional supplements.

He said that it is very important that the farmers involved in the production of medicinal plants should get the facility to easily connect with the market. For this, the government is also working on modernization and expansion of AYUSH e-market place.

Prime Minister Modi emphasized that India is also going to make a special AYUSH Mark. This Mark will be applied to the highest quality AYUSH products made in India. This AYUSH Mark will be equipped with the provisions of modern technology. This will give people all over the world the confidence of quality AYUSH products.

The three-day Global AYUSH Investment & Innovation Summit will witness 5 plenary sessions, 8 roundtables, 6 workshops, and 2 symposiums. About 90 eminent speakers and 100 exhibitors will also participate in the summit.

The Summit will help in uncovering investment potential and give a fillip to innovation, research & development, start-up ecosystem and the wellness industry. It will help bring together industry leaders, academicians and scholars together and act as a platform for future collaborations.