The Himalaya Drug company, a leading player in herbal healthcare, will set up a new manufacturing and research & development (R&D) unit at Bidadi near Bangalore with an investment of Rs.165 crore.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday at the launch of Himalaya Forest Honey, company President & CEO Ravi Prasad said the new project spread over 200 acres will commence from August of this year and is scheduled to be completed by 2005. The state-of-the-art manufacturing facility will comply with the international norms of pharmaceutical manufacturing.

The unit will be engaged in R&D and manufacturing activities concerning all the four business divisions of Himalaya - pharmaceutical, personal care, consumer healthcare and animal healthcare.

Himalaya Drug Company which launched its third brand under the consumer healthcare division - the Himalaya Forest Honey, aims to capture 10 percent market share of the Rs.45 crore organized honey market in the country. The product is priced at Rs.75 for 250 gm bottle and Rs.145 for 500 gms.

Mr. Prasad said the honey would be sourced from the cooperatives across the country.

On the expansion plans of their exclusive retail outlets, Mr. Prasad said they would be adding more number of retail outlets on a need-be basis. Currently the company has 24 outlets.

He said they are planning to set up exclusive Himalaya stores within a large store or supermarkets going by the concept of 'shop within shop' across the country. It also opened its third international retail outlet in Sri Lanka with other two being in Cayman Islands and Abu Dhabi.