Description

Patanjali Ayurved Limited is an Indian FMCG company. Manufacturing units and headquarters are located in the industrial area of Haridwar while the registered office is located at Delhi.^[5] The company manufactures mineral and herbal products. It also has manufacturing units in Nepal under the trademark Nepal Gramudhyog^[6] and imports majority of herbs in India from Himalayas of Nepal.^[7][8] According to CLSA and HSBC, Patanjali is the fastest growing FMCG company in India. It is valued at ₹30 billion(US$470 million) and some predict revenues of ₹5,000 crore (US$780 million) for the fiscal 2015–16.^[9][10][11] Patanjali declared its annual turnover of the year 2016-17 to be estimated ₹10,216 crore (US$1.6 billion).^[12] Ramdev baba has stated in his interview with CNN-News18 that profit from Patanjali Products goes to charity.^[13]

History[edit]

Baba Ramdev established the Patanjali Ayurved Limited in 2006 along with Acharya Balkrishna with the objective of establishing science of Ayurveda in accordance and coordination with the latest technology and ancient wisdom.^[14][15][16]

Revenues[edit]

Future Group which has tied up with Patanjali sells about ₹30 crore (US$4.7 million) worth of Patanjali products every month.^[17][18][19]

Production[edit]

Patanjali Food and Herbal Park at Haridwar is the main production facility operated by Patanjali Ayurved.^[20] The company has a production capacity of ₹350 billion (US$5.4 billion) and is in the process of expanding to a capacity of ₹600 billion (US$9.3 billion) through its new production units at several places, including Noida, Nagpur, and Indore.^[3] The company plans to establish further units in India and in Nepal.^[21][22]

In 2016, the Patanjali Food and Herbal Park was given a full-time security cover of 35 armed Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) commandos.^[23][24][25] The park will be the eighth private institute in India to be guarded by CISF paramilitary forces.^[25] Baba Ramdev is himself a “Z” category protectee of central paramilitary forces^[25]

Products[edit]

Patanjali Ayurved^[26] produces products in the categories of personal care and food.^[27][28] The company manufactures more than 900 products including 45 types of cosmetic products and 30 types of food products. According to Patanjali, all the products manufactured by Patanjali are made from Ayurveda and natural components^{[29][30][31][32][33]} Patanjali has also launched beauty and baby products.^[34]Patanjali Ayurvedic manufacturing division has over 300 medicines for treating a range of ailments and body conditions, from common cold to chronic paralysis.^[35][36][37]

Patanjali launched instant noodles on 15 November 2015.^[38][39][40] Food Safety and Standards Authority of India slapped a notice on the company as neither Patanjali nor Aayush, which are the two brand names under which Patanjali got licenses, have got any approval for manufacturing instant noodles.^{[41][42][43][44]}

In 2016, Patanjali has announced to enter the textile manufacturing centre. The company is reported to manufacture not only traditional clothes such as Kurta Payjama but also popular western clothes such as jeans.^[45]

On 5 November 2016, Patanjali announced that it will set up a new manufacturing plant Patanjali Herbal and Mega Food Park in Balipara, Assam by investing ₹1,200 crore(US$190 million) with the manufacturing capacity of 1,000,000 tonnes (2.2×10⁹ lb) of goods per year. The new plant will be the largest facility of Patanjali in India and will be operational by March 2017. Patanjali already has around 50 manufacturing units across India.^[46]

Sales and distribution[edit]

Patanjali Ayurved sells through nearly 4,700 retail outlets as of May 2016.^[31][47] Patanjali also sells its products online and is planning to open outlets at railway stations and airports.^[48] Patanjali Ayurveda has tied up with Pittie Group and Kishore Biyani’s Future Group on 9 October 2015.^[31] As per the tie-up with Future Group, all the consumer products of Patanjali will be available for the direct sale in Future Group outlets.^[49][50][51] Patanjali Ayurveda products are also available in modern trade stores including Reliance retail, Hyper city and Star Bazaar apart from online channels.^{[31][52][53][54][55]} Patanjali Ayurved, co-founded by yoga guru Ramdev, is targeting Rs 10,000-crore revenue in 2016-17, after sales grew 150 per cent in the previous financial year to Rs 5,000 crore.^[56]

Patanjali Ayurved has also started its FMCG expansion in form of dealership and distributorship channels across the country and expects wider growth in Overseas distribution as well.^[57]

Controversies[edit]

On 21 June 2017, The Nepal Department of Drug Administration asked Patanjali Ayurved in a public notice to immediately recall six medical products as they were found to be of “substandard quality”. All medicines mentioned in the notice — six out of seven from Patanjali — had failed the microbial tests used to detect bacteria, mold and other toxins. ^[58]

In 2015 a Muslim organisation – Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamat (TNTJ) – had issued a ‘fatwa’ against Ramdev’s Patanjali products made by using cow urine, saying their use was considered ‘haram’ (forbidden) in Islam.TNTJ said cow’s urine was being used as a ‘key ingredient’ in cosmetics, medicines and food products of Patanjali that are available in open markets as well as online. ^[59] In response Acharya Balkrishna said “We make more than 800 products, out of which only 5 contain cow urine and it’s mentioned,” ^[59]

In 2015, the Maharashtra government announced plans to sell excessive material from its Van Dhan Jan Dhan scheme to Patanjali. The government set up this scheme to sell medicinal and herbal products, derived from the forests of Maharashtra, to the consumer in government-established shops.^[60] Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar stated that its plan to sell wholesale to Patanjali is an effort to increase production from the Van Dhan Jan Dhan scheme. Members of the opposition party have stated that the forest products are a national asset, and plans to sell them to Patanjali is a form of favoritism.^[61]

Patanjali’s Amla juice had also been suspended by the armed forces’ Canteen Stores Department (CSD) in April after it failed the quality test at a Public Health Laboratory in Kolkata.^[62]

Products like “Patanjali Noodles” and “Patanjali Pasta” were banned when the food department authorities found them selling these products without licenses. Later Patanjali Ayurveda also failed the food quality test which was organized by the District Food Safety Department.^[63]