Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali eyes two-fold rise in sales at Rs20,000 crore in FY18

New Delhi: Patanjali Ayurved Ltd will cross Rs20,000-25,000 crore in sales this financial year, said Baba Ramdev, the yoga guru who founded the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) firm.

In the year ending 31 March, the company’s overall turnover stood at Rs10,561 crore, of which Patanjali Ayurved alone accounted for Rs9,346 crore and Divya Pharmacy Rs870 crore, said Ramdev. While Patanjali sells products like soaps, toothpaste, hair oil, amla juice, atta, biscuits and noodles, Divya Pharmacy makes and sells Ayurvedic medicines.

In the next one or two years, Patanjali will become India’s largest swadeshi (local) brand, Ramdev claimed. “Turnover figures will force MNCs to go for kapalbhati (a breathing exercise). Let’s end their monopoly...,” he said at a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday. He added Patanjali will give moksh (freedom from the cycle of birth and death) to MNCs in the Indian market in the next five years.

Patanjali has seen a meteoric rise in the last two to three years. From Rs446 crore in 2011-12, its revenue rose to Rs2,006 crore in 2014-15, and around Rs5,000 crore in the year ended 31 March 2016.

While most listed companies are yet to file annual results for the year to 31 March 2017, Nestle India Ltd, which follows the calendar year, reported revenue of Rs9,223.80 crore in year to 31 December 2016. In year to 31 March 2016, Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd’s revenue stood at Rs4,162.29 crore while GSK Consumer Healthcare Ltd clocked Rs4,308.72 crore. Hindustan Unilever Ltd saw its revenue touch Rs31,987.17 crore and ITC Ltd stood at Rs36,837.39 crore.

“Prosperity for charity,” the banner behind the yoga guru read, referring to the company’s practice of spending profits for charity. Patanjali has, in the past year, more than doubled its profit, said Ramdev, adding the company will use all the profit for charity.

Ramdev, who has consistently mocked multinational companies, said: “In India, FMCG was synonymous to MNCs so far…..Don’t know when Colgate will have to close its ‘gate’.”

“So far, the CEOs of multinationals were sleeping peacefully considering that the market shares of Patanjali products were small. But that is not true (any longer). We are leaders in categories such as honey and ghee, and others are growing fast,” said Ramdev. The company claimed that its shampoo has a 15% market share, toothpaste 14%, face wash 15%, dish wash 35% and honey 50%.

During the fiscal year, Patanjali ghee had sales of Rs1,467 crore. Its oral care brand Dant Kanti was Rs940 crore, hair care brand Keshkanti Rs825 crore and herbal soap Rs574 crore. It sold honey worth Rs350 crore which it hopes take to Rs500-600 crore next year. Its kachhi ghani mustard oil will cross Rs1,000 crore in sales next year from Rs522 crore this year, Ramdev said.

The company is doubling its manufacturing capacity and will invest about Rs5,000 crore to set up few more factories in India, including in Noida, Nagpur and Indore, which will take its capacity to Rs60,000 crore from the present Rs35,000 crore. “Our Noida facility would have a production capacity of Rs20,000 crore, Nagpur Rs15,000 crore to Rs20,000 crore and Indore Rs5,000 crore,” he added.

Ramdev claimed Patanjali is not a corporate, but a company of 100 crore Indians. “MNCs have looted Indians for so long. It is time to make India MNC-free,” added the yoga guru.

The yoga guru also said India should ban Chinese products and companies as China is not a friend of India.

Interestingly, Ramdev’s Patanjali has been looking to export products to China, Mint reported on 16 March.

Ramdev said even after him, Patanjali’s successor will be a sanyasi (monk) and the brand will never go into the hands of a businessman. In the last couple of years, Patanjali has become the darling of equity analysts. A 5 January 2016 report by India Infoline Ltd estimated that Patanjali’s revenue could grow to Rs20,000 crore by 2020.