Patanjali Plans To Enter Restaurant, Textile Businesses

Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. plans to foray into restaurant and textile businesses, and is conducting research and development activities to ready itself for such ventures, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Acharya Balkrishna told BloombergQuint in an interview on Thursday.

“We can't say at this point how long it (foray into restaurant and textile businesses) will take; it is part of our plans. Our team is carrying out R&D for this, and we are working towards it,” said Balkrishna.

Patanjali recorded a revenue of Rs 10,561 crore for the financial year 2016-17, Yoga teacher and brand ambassador Baba Ramdev told reporters in New Delhi, announcing the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) player's earnings. Balkrishna added that the company's target for 2017-18 was to double its revenue year-on-year.

The company has witnessed exponential growth over the past three fiscals, from Rs 2,014 crore in 2014-15, to over Rs 10,000 crore in the financial year gone by. The company had set itself a revenue target of Rs 10,000 crore for the fiscal.

Also Read: Patanjali Aims To Double Market Share In The Food Processing Segment

The company is in the process of setting up production units at Noida in Uttar Pradesh, Nagpur in Maharashtra, Indore in Madhya Pradesh, and one facility in Andhra Pradesh. Ramdev said the company had procured 700 acres of land in Noida for its planned unit, and that the juice processing unit in Nagpur will begin exports from 2018.

The company also plans to double its number of distributors to 12,000 within a year, from 6,000 presently, Ramdev said, adding that it also planned to employ 5 lakh people going ahead from around 1 lakh presently employed directly, or indirectly.

Patanjali competes with established companies such as Hindustan Unilever Ltd., Dabur India Ltd., and ITC Ltd., among others in the FMCG sector in India. Ramdev, while speaking about competition, took jibes at companies such as ITC, calling them foreign-funded. He said Patanjali planned to become India's largest “swadesi” FMCG brand in one or two years.

Speaking about market share across categories, Ramdev said the company's toothpaste had a domestic share of 14 percent, the shampoo and face wash segment had garnered 15 percent each, while its honey enjoyed half of the pie in its segment. Balkrishna said the market share figures had been calculated based on inputs from third-party agencies, as well as data provided “on the internet”.