Amma pharmacy crosses 1,000-cr mark in sales in November

Chennai

Annually the state sells Rs 160 crores worth medicines at 20 per cent discount. The daily collection of few stores in Salem, Coimbatore and Chennai is more than Rs 2 lakh, cooperatives department official sources said.

Cooperatives Minister Sellur K Raju who reviewed the state-run farm-fresh outlets and pharmacies had also urged the cooperatives officials to explore the brand Amma pharmacies and cooperative medical stores that are growing annually.

The farm-fresh outlets that sells vegetables at low margin also continue to grow every year, the operating margins are less when compared to the pharmacies.

The Minister has urged the officials to review the periodic performance of farm-fresh outlets and Amma pharmacies as Amma brand of stores help to curtail inflation helping the public.

As on date, a total of 119 Amma medical shops and 173 cooperative medical stores are functioning and the total six-year turnover has touched a whopping Rs 1,068 crores, sources said.

According to cooperatives department sources, during fiscal 2015-16, the sale of medicine in Amma medical shops were Rs 51.62 crore and for the last three fiscals the sale estimates have crossed Rs 80 crore mark.

Similarly, there are 173 cooperatives stores selling medicines and their annual turnover is around Rs 85 crore, both Amma medical stores and cooperatives combined business is around 160 crores per annum with annual growth of around 15 to 20 per cent, sources said adding that by the next two years the annual sale turnover of medicine by government outlets will easily surpass Rs 200 crore mark.

The Amma pharmacy is a good initiative by the government and the mostly promote the generic medicines that are commonly used. They should focus on also branded drugs of leading pharmaceutical companies helping public to get medicine at discount rates, said CL Sridhar, a resident of Egmore and a customer of Amma pharmacies.