Sami Labs to increase herbal cultivation acreage

Chennai: The Bangalore-based Rs259-crore turnover Sami Labs Limited, an ayurvedic pharmaceutical company has decided spread the cultivation of medicinal herbs to Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka and Chattisgarh. According to Dr. Muhammed Majeed, chairman and managing director, the expansion will be at an outlay of Rs60 crore.

Sami Labs currently has 10,000 acres under herbal plant cultivation if Tamil Nadu. With the expansion plans the company and intends to increase the acreage to 30,000.

Sami Labs is primarily into cultivating coleus forskohlii, a wild plant with medicinal properties. Sami Labs and its associate in the US, Sabinsa Corporation discovered that coleus forskohlii, also called ban tulsi in Hindi, when consumed breaks down the body fat body without affecting other tissues. Thus it could be used a good weight management product. In the year 1998, Sami Labs was granted US patent for this discovery.