Dubai: The Indian skincare and wellness brand Himalaya is to invest Dh120 million in a herbal pharmaceutical unit in Dubai Industrial City.
First production at the facility will start in the first quarter of 2024. The factory will occupy 760,000 square feet of land - this will be the first of three facilities Himalaya is to build at Dubai Industrial City. The herbal pharmaceutical unit will be followed by those producing personal-care and ‘functional foods’. (No dates have been set for the other two facilities.)
Himalaya operates a ‘seed-to-shelf’ model where farmland is used to grow organic herbs free from pesticides and insecticides. It established its UAE presence in 2000, and then set up an R&D centre ‘Himalaya Global Research Centre’ in Dubai Science Park in 2013.
Certified by all
The new plant will be built to the highest standards recognised by the World Health Organisation, the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicine Agency’s ‘good manufacturing practices’.
“Our flagship brands like Liv.52 and Cystone are household names in many countries and the proposed manufacturing facility will be supplying to over 100 countries,” said Shailendra Malhotra, Global CEO, Himalaya Wellness. “The objective is to increase our global manufacturing capacity for herbal medicines, and we decided on UAE due to its strategic location, state-of-the-art infrastructure, and efficient business environment.”
"We believe our competitive ecosystem, with advanced infrastructure and an easy setup process, is the perfect place for its next phase of growth," said Saud Abu Al-Shawareb, Managing Director of Dubai Industrial City. "For more than a decade, we have been a strategic driver and enabler of Dubai’s knowledge and innovation-based economy and today’s announcement is the latest step forward in our ongoing efforts to position this city as a global hub for advanced manufacturing and logistics.”
