Yoga guru-turned-entrepreneur, Baba Ramdev has been scouting for land along the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) area.
Ramdev is said to be exploring the possibility of setting up a university and putting up an industry to manufacture its array of Patanjali products.
According to Patanjali Yogpeeth, the university will be a one-of-its-kind educational institute that will be set up in the next five years. The promoters claim it will offer education that is a blend of western and eastern schools of thought.
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A report in The Times of India said that Baba Ramdev’s key aide, Acharya Balkrishna contacted YEIDA officials on Thursday and held an initial round of talks for the proposed project.
Last week, Ramdev met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav at the latter’s residence, expressing his desire to set up a food processing plant in Bundelkhand along the lines of that in Uttarakhand.
Ramdev’s interest in Uttar Pradesh comes days after he offered to set up units for its products in Bihar.
The area adjacent to the Yamuna expressway is attracting interest for large-scale projects and it has become a hub for integrated townships and other mixed-land use projects.
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All About Patanjali
Located in the industrial town of Haridwar, Patanjali Ayurved is known for manufacturing mineral and herbal products. The four main verticals of the FMCG firm are Home Care, Natural Cosmetics and Health Care, Natural Food and Beverages and Health Drink.
The company manufactures 444 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. Patanjali products sell like hot cakes since they are cheaper as compared to their MNC alternatives in the market.
Retail experts say that this lower costing of products has put Patanjali Ayurved ahead of other FMCG MNCs, including Oral B, Marico and Dabur. In fact, Oral B has even been edged out of the toothpaste market because of Patanjali Dant Kanti.
According to CLSA, Patanjali is the fastest growing fast-moving consumer company in India. It is valued at Rs 13, 000 crore (US$1.9 billion) and is aiming to reach revenues of Rs 5,000 crore (US$740 million) for the fiscal 2015–16.
The annual turnover of the company for the year 2014-15 increased to ₹2500 crore (US$370 million) as compared to previous turnovers of ₹1200 crore US$180 million) (2013–14), ₹850 crore US$130 million) (2012-13) and ₹450 crore (US$67 million) (2011–12).
Kishore Biyani’s Future Group has tied up with Patanjali and sells about ₹30 crore (US$4.5 million) worth of the firm’s products every month. Apart from this, Patanjali products are also available for direct sale at Reliance stores, Hypercity and Star Bazaar.
Patanjali Ayurved has a network of over 4,000 distributors, 10,000 stores and 100 Patanjali mega marts pan India.
Ramdev is said to be exploring the possibility of setting up a university and putting up an industry to manufacture its array of Patanjali products.
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