Wellness centres, institutes, products: Grand old Vasudeva Vilasam looks at 360 degree growth in Ayurveda

Ayurveda has been a grand old practice that originated in India thousands of years ago. When one goes back to brands that originated years ago in this sector and are still growing and transforming, it is a journey the world’s got to know. One such brand is the Vasudeva Vilasam Group that originated in 1884. What started with just three products meant for use within the Travancore palace, is now a brand with 500 products and looking to capture a huge share in the Indian and overseas markets not just in the Ayurvedic products category, but also in services.

In an interview with Wellness India, Dr Pradeep Jeothi, Chairman and Managing Director, Vasudeva Vilasam Group, speaks about the major expansion plans of the Ayurveda major in the next few years. Here are excerpts from the interview:

Tell us about Vasudeva Vilasam.

Vasudeva Vilasam is an Ayurvedic healthcare organisation established in 1884 by our great grandfather who was the finest physician of the Travancore palace. We had a small facility with three products. Now we’ve gone to about 500 products. From one facility, we have grown to 18 centres with three major hospitals. The total patient capacity is about 2000 people who can stay and avail treatment. About 200 people can stay in our health resort. We want to have a pan-India operation through franchising.

What are your expansion plans for the next 3 years?

For the next three years, our basic plan is to increase our wellness centres. We want to have about 500 wellness centres throughout India by 2025. We have actually signed an agreement with the government of India to train 1 lakh therapists in 5 years’ time. So, there is a huge requirement and it’s an opportunity. Unless we have trained therapists, there’s no point in setting up wellness centres.

Are you planning on training centres?

We supply skilled labourers. We are planning to have institutes in every state to train people at different levels both for the wellness sector as well as the retail business.

Tell us your views about the current state of the Ayurveda industry of India.

The Ayurveda industry is growing very rapidly. The present market is about Rs 50,000 crores in India. When you compare it with the global herbal market, our share is only one per cent. The government is focusing more on the promotion of Ayurvedic products throughout the world because in Ayurveda, we don’t use any chemicals. Also the food sector, there are a lot of health herbal food products which we are promoting.