Patanjali backs desi jeans, but vies for videshi genes

Baba Ramdev’s Patanajali Ayurveda Pvt Ltd is looking to expand its ‘swadeshi’ pitch on consumer products to the garments industry by launching a lien of denims.

Yoga guru Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved Pvt Ltd prides itself on its “philosophy” of unadulterated, swadeshi (indigenous) products, a disruptive sales pitch that has helped it become a popular consumer brand.

Baba Ramdev’s Patanajali Ayurveda Pvt Ltd has been included a range of consumer products such as cosmetics, food and detergents. It now looks to go into the garments industry. (Arvind Ashok Nigam/HT File Photo)

Pegging its products around ancient Ayurveda and nationalist pride, Patanjali has quickly become a household name in the world’s second-largest consumer market.

It seeks to dislodge global giants such as Unilever PLC and Nestlé SA, selling everything from noodles to shampoo.

Slamming foreign rivals, the yoga teacher told the Wall Street Journal last year that “foreign companies” were “fooling Indians by selling products tainted with chemicals and artificial flavours”.

The firm is stretching its swadeshi pitch to jeans, planning its own brand.

But, there is a twist to this homegrown tale. Business isn’t philosophy, much less ideology, and the consummate businessman in Ramdev seems to realise it.

Indian milch cattle have poor productivity. So Patanjali is looking to import genetic material, including semen, of a high-productivity foreign bull variety from a Dutch biological company for cross-breeding makeover of Indian bulls.

Patanjali Ltd is expected to sign a deal with the Arnhem-based firm, CRV BV.

According to Bloomberg’s corporate listing, CRV BV specialises in the development, production and sale of genetic products, including semen and embryos.

Patanjali’s spokesperson SK Tijarawala did not comment on queries about the deal. Patanjali is set to enter the dairy business this year.

Last month, Ramdev attended a two-day workshop at Karnal’s National Dairy Research Institute, an official said.

India is the world’s largest milk producer, accounting for 18.5% of global output, but its productivity is poor.

Patanjali’s acquisition is aimed at improved breeds. But its brand of desi ghee, or clarified butter, may no longer be quite swadeshi.