Patanjali Ayurved

Patanjali Ayurved, popularly known as Patanjali, is an Indian multinational consumer packaged goods company based in Haridwar. It which was founded by Ramdev and Balkrishna in 2006. Its manufacturing units and headquarters are located in the industrial area of Haridwar and its registered office is located in Delhi. The company claims to manufactures mineral and herbal products, company also markets product manufactured by other companies under Patanjali's logo.
According to a company official, the company's monthly sales were about to in March 2016. Acharya Balkrishna remains the CEO of Patanjali Ayurved with 96% shareholding and supervising its day-to-day activities, while Ramdev remains the face of the company and makes most of the business decisions.
The company has been accused of misleading advertisements about its products and flimsy testing before being launched to market. Between April 2015 and July 2016, 33 complaints were received against 21 misleading advertisements, 17 of which were found to be in violation of ASCI standards. In September 2017, the Delhi High Court has ordered the company to stop airing an advertisement that promotes its brand of Chyavanprash that disparaged a competitor's. Some products like amla juice, and ayurvedic medicines have been banned from sales due to poor quality. Patanjali has also been surrounded in controversies regarding working conditions where Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna are treated as gurus, whose feet must be touched each time they enter an area. Workers are paid a salary of just 6000 INR per month while working in 12-hour shifts for 6 days a week. They are also discouraged to ask for a raise as working at factory is considered "seva" (service) to the cause.
In June 2020, Patanjali Ayurved announced a drug named Coronil for COVID-19 treatment, and Ramdev claimed that it cured Covid-19 patients. However, lab tests shown that the drug did not contain any ingredients that could treat coronavirus infections, nor protect against such infections. The Indian government has allowed Patanjali Ayurved to market Coronil as an immunity booster but not as a cure. But the Government of Maharashtra has banned the sale of Coronil in the state. Lawsuits were filed in Bihar and Rajasthan against Ramdev, Balkrishna, and others, accusing them of cheating and selling fake medicines. The Madras High Court has fined the company for making false claims about the drug. Patanjali has withdrawn the claim of Coronil being a cure for Covid-19. The UK drug regulator has threatened action, if the unauthorized products were sold in the UK market.
History.
Ramdev established the Patanjali Ayurved Limited in 2006 along with Balkrishna, with a claim of establishing the "science" of Ayurveda in accordance with the latest technology.
Balkrishna owns 99.6% of Patanjali Ayurved, and as of March 2018, has a net worth of ₹43,932 crore (US$6.1 billion).
According to CLSA and HSBC in 2016, Patanjali was the fastest growing FMCG company in India. It is valued at and some predict revenues of for the fiscal 2015–16. Patanjali declared its annual turnover of the year 2016–17 to be estimated . According to a report by India Infoline (IIFL), at least 13 listed companies would be affected by Patanjali's success including Colgate, Dabur, ITC and Godrej Consumer.
Revenues.
Future Group, which has tied up with Patanjali sells about worth of Patanjali products every month.
Production.
Patanjali Food and Herbal Park at Haridwar is the main production facility operated by Patanjali Ayurved. The company has a production capacity of and is in the process of expanding to a capacity of through its new production units at several places, including Noida, Nagpur, and Indore.
In 2016, the Patanjali Food and Herbal Park was given a full-time security cover of 35 armed Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) commandos. The park will be the eighth private institute in India to be guarded by CISF paramilitary forces. Ramdev himself is a "Z" category protectee of central paramilitary forces.
In 2017, Patanjali group launched their official Caller Tune with their slogan 'Swadeshi Swabhiman, Rashtra Seva Ka Abhiyan' music composed by Vaibhav Saxena.
Controversies.
Ramdev had approximately 100 cases filed against him by the Uttarakhand Government in under various offences. Out of which 81 cases against the Patanjali Yog Peeth and its sister concerns in Haridwar were registered for violation of the Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms (ZALR) Act and the Indian Stamps Act.
Infertility cure for boy.
One of the products manufactured by Ramdev's Divya pharmacy and sold by Patanjali Pharmacy chain was named "Divya Putrajeevak Seed", a medicine that can guarantee the birth of a boy. It was described in catalog as a natural herb for the treatment of infertility. Doctors pointed out the misleading name of the drug as the word "Putrajeevak" in Hindi means "son's life." Some stores of the chain were selling the drug claiming that it will ensure the birth of a boy. This lead to a rise in sale of the drug among people seeking a boy. The claim of boy is not mentioned on packet of the drug.
In July 2015, the issue was also raised in the Indian Parliament by members of the Opposition party who accused "Ramdev of peddling a product which promised delivery of male children." However, the Ministry of AYUSH which oversees the sale of alternative medicines, had defended the product, saying the medicine was named after a herb.
In 2016, the Uttarakhand health department said that the drug by Patanjali Ayurveda was in violation of the Indian law, Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994.
In 2018, Maharashtra government ordered a probe on the drug over charges that it violated laws. Congress leaders in the state demanded a ban on the drug.
Ban Ganga river pollution.
In January 2018, villages in Haridwar district complained that one of the Patanjali's factories named Padarth was polluting Ban Ganga rivulet and a few other rain-fed water bodies in the locality by releasing effluents. According to the locals, the chemicals released by the factory had caused the death of several animals in the area over the years. The villagers had complained but the local government took no action on the factory due to the influence of Ramdev. Residents of 40 villages had threatened agitations due to the inaction of the local bodies in taking action against pollution. Uttarakhand Environment Conservation and Pollution Control Board directed a clean-up of the Begum nullah flowing through the area. In past the board had served a notice to Padartha over the release of untreated industrial effluents into local water bodies. Patanjali's General Manager denied the allegations and claimed that it followed the protocols.
Suspension of Amla juice.
The Ministry of Defence canteen stores department (CSD) has suspended the sale of Patanjali Ayurved's amla juice after receiving an adverse state-laboratory test report on the product.
The move came after the product was tested at the central food lab that found it to be unfit for consumption. After which, the CSD asked all its depots to make debit notes for their existing stock so that the product can be returned.
Notice by FSSAI.
Patanjali launched instant noodles on 15 November 2015. 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.
Fake COVID-19 treatment.
In June 2020, Patanjali Ayurved announced the launch of a COVID-19 treatment kit called Coronil, claiming that it showed 100% favorable results in clinical trials on coronavirus patients. Ramdev claimed in June that Coronil had cured Covid-19 patients. There was no clinical data to prove that these new drugs were effective or even safe, and this prompted a backlash on social media, with people questioning the role of the Ministry of AYUSH. Within hours of the launch, the Ministry of AYUSH issued a statement, denying having given clearance for the launch of the new drugs and asking the company to stop selling or advertising the product until the trial results were examined by medical authorities. An officer from the Ayurved department of the Government of Uttarakhand stated that the approval application for the new drugs had not mentioned COVID-19.
The Government of Maharashtra banned Coronil in the state in June 2020, with home minister Anil Deshmukh threatening the company with legal action if they did not respect the ban. Following the launch two FIRs were registered in Bihar and Rajasthan against Ramdev, Balkrishna, and others, accusing them of cheating and selling fake medicines. Patanjali responded to the accusations claiming that they did not violate any procedure leading up to the launch. Patanjali has withdrawn the claim of Coronil being a cure for Covid-19.
The Madras High Court has also barred Patanjali Ayurved from using the trademark ‘Coronil’. The court’s order came while hearing a suit filed by a Chennai-based firm which claimed that ‘Coronil’ is a trademark owned by it since 1993. While making absolute an interim injunction passed earlier against Patanjali, Justice C.V. Karthikeyan also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on the company. The judge in its ruling also observed that Patanjali has been “chasing further profits by exploiting the fear and panic among the general public by projecting a cure for the coronavirus, when actually their ‘Coronil Tablet’ is not a cure”.
False claims regarding government and WHO approvals.
In February 2021, a number of news outlets, including "Indian Express, Times of India, The Hindu", "and Livemint" carried reports that Patanjali Ayurved claimed that Coronil had received approval from the Ministry of AYUSH as well as certification from the World Health Organization. These reports indicated that Ramdev had, at a press conference attended by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and transport minister Nitin Gadkari, released studies showing that Coronil was effective against COVID-19. The claim was first reported by channel "News Nation", which did an exclusive interview with Ramdev, in which he accused medical doctors of engaging in 'allopathic terrorism' with reference to doubts about the effectivess of Coronil. The claim was endorsed by Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson, Sanju Verma, who described it as a "...a huge endorsement for Ayurveda India's homegrown StartUp ecosystem that has flourished under @narendramodi govt." Verma, speaking for the BJP, also described the approvals granted to Coronil as a "slap in the face" to the BJP's political opposition.
In response to these claims, the World Health Organisation on 22 February clarified that it had not "...reviewed or certified the effectiveness of any traditional medicine for the treatment #Covid19.” Several news and fact-checking outlets, including "The Wire, Alt News," and Economic Times ran fact-checking articles debunking the claims made by Ramdev and Patanjali, and demonstrating that Coronil had merely received a license for export, and had not received any approval regarding its effectiveness as a treatment against Covid-19. Following this, the CEO of Patanjali Ayurveda, Acharya Balkrishna, admitted on Twitter that the approval received for Coronil had not come from either the WHO or the Ministry of AYUSH, as they had earlier claimed, but had been granted by the Drugs Controller General of India only for the purpose of exports, and not as a certification of effectiveness.
Products.
Patanjali Ayurved produces products in the categories of personal care and food. The company manufactures more than 2,500 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 has also launched beauty and baby products. Patanjali Ayurvedic manufacturing division has over 300 medicines for curing a range of ailments and body conditions, from common cold to chronic diseases like paralysis.
In 2016, Patanjali has announced to enter the textile manufacturing center. The company is reported to manufacture not only traditional clothes such as Kurta Payjama but also popular western clothes such as jeans.
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 with the manufacturing capacity of 10 lakh tonnes 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.
Sales and distribution.
Patanjali Ayurved sells through nearly 4,700 retail outlets as of May 2016. Patanjali also sells its products online and is planning to open outlets at railway stations and airports. Patanjali Ayurveda has tied up with Pittie Group and Kishore Biyani's Future Group on 9 October 2015. 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. Patanjali Ayurveda products are also available in modern trade stores including Reliance retail, Hyper city and Star Bazaar apart from online channels. Patanjali Ayurved, co-founded by yoga guru Ramdev, is targeting ₹10,000-crore revenue in 2016–17, after sales grew 150% in the previous financial year to ₹5,000 crore.
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.
Acquisition.
In December 2019, Patanjali has acquired bankrupt Ruchi Soya Industries at a valuation of ₹4350 crores. At present Ruchi Soya is a mid-cap company listed on NSE and BSE in India. It's a major soybean product player in India.