Himalaya Drug plans Mexico base

Himalaya Drug Company is setting up a manufacturing base in Mexico to tap the lucrative north and south American market.

Ravi Prasad, president and chief executive officer of the company, said production would start from the third quarter of this year.

"We have tied up with a Mexican company which will roll out Himalaya branded products," he added.

Himalaya, the Rs 350-crore Bangalore-based company, has four strategic business units - pharmaceutical, consumer health, personal care and animal health. The Mexican company would start manufacturing pharmaceutical products. Later, it would roll out products from all other segments.

Himalaya's engagement with the Mexican outfit would be limited to technology transfer. Thus the investment would not be substantial, Prasad noted.

The move is likely to offer a significant rise in revenue as acceptance of herbal medicine and soft therapeutic products is growing in the West with doctors prescribing them along with allopathic medicine.