Herbalife International India Pvt Ltd has signed an agreement with Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) to establish India’s first Plant Cell Fermentation Technology at the IITM Research Park called Herbalife–IIT Madras Centre of Excellence (CoE).
The CoE, expected to commence operations from June 2026, aims to advance India’s capabilities in commercial plant cell fermentation and address the growing demand for sustainable, plant-derived healthcare products using cost-effective indigenous technologies while reducing import dependence.
Focus on R&D and innovation
The initiative marks Phase 2 of the collaboration between Herbalife India and IITM and is being funded through the company’s CSR programme. It seeks to create a centre for research, innovation and entrepreneurship in sustainable production of herbal biomass, enriched extracts and high-value phytochemicals.
The facility will focus on scalable production of herbal biomass enriched with phytochemicals for applications in health and wellness, integrating advanced upstream cultivation systems with downstream processing and metabolomics platforms.
Industry linkage and outcomes
The centre is expected to facilitate capacity building, technology transfer to industry and entrepreneurship in the plant cell fermentation domain. It will also house specialised equipment designed for such applications.
The initiative is likely to benefit students, researchers, industry professionals and entrepreneurs, with expected outcomes including academic-industry partnerships, skill development, intellectual property creation and technology transfers to industry and start-ups.
Management commentary
Herbalife India, Managing Director Ajay Khanna, said the partnership aims to strengthen scientific capacity and industry-academia collaboration while supporting India’s role in bio-based manufacturing.
IIT Madras, Dean – Alumni and Corporate Relations Ashwin Mahalingam, said the initiative would help translate research into scalable solutions and strengthen India’s global presence in plant cell fermentation.
Background
Once operational, the centre is expected to support environmentally sustainable production of high-quality plant biomass and phytochemicals, improving access to sustainable solutions in human health and wellness.