Medicinal plants constitute an important natural wealth of a country.Herbs are very important components of medicine. India is also the richest sources of medicinal plants because of its rich geographical diversity, varied climatic and ecological features and is appropriately called the botanical garden of the world. Medicinal plants are valued for their secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, steroids, flavanoids, terpenes, glycosides etc. Medicinal plants are the most exclusive source of life saving drugs for the majority of the world's population. Hairy root cultures are easy to maintain and are characterised by high growth rate, fast doubling time and are able to synthesise root derived secondary metabolites.Hairy roots are unique in their genetic and biosynthetic stability and they are able to synthesise a large group of chemical compounds. These roots can also synthesize more than a single metabolite and therefore prove economical for commercial production purposes. The greatest advantage of hairy root cultures is that they often exhibit about the same or greater biosynthetic capacity for secondary metabolite production compared to their mother plants.