Patanjali Ayurved is an Indian multinational conglomerate holding company, based in Haridwar. It was founded by Ramdev and Balkrishna in 2006. Its office is in Delhi, with manufacturing units and headquarters in the industrial area of Haridwar. The company manufactures cosmetics, ayurvedic medicine, personal care and food products.
History
Ramdev and Balkrishna established Patanjali Ayurved in 2006. Balkrishna owns 94 percent of the company, and the remainder is dispersed among other individuals. In May 2021, Balkrishna had a net worth of billion.
According to CLSA and HSBC, Patanjali was one of the fastest-growing FMCG companies in India in 2016. It was valued at . Patanjali estimated its annual turnover for the 2016–17 fiscal year at . According to a report by India Infoline (IIFL), at least 13 listed companies would be affected by Patanjali's success; they included Hindustan Unilever, Colgate, Dabur, ITC, and Godrej Consumer Products.
Revenue
Future Group, which has joined with Patanjali, sells about worth of Patanjali products every month.
Production
Patanjali Food and Herbal Park in Haridwar is the company's main production facility. With a production capacity of , it is expanding to a capacity of through new production units in Noida, Nagpur, and Indore.
In 2016, the Patanjali Food and Herbal Park received 35 full-time, armed Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) commandos. The park will be the eighth private institute in India to be guarded by paramilitary CISF forces.
Controversies
Ramdev has had 100 cases filed against him by the Government of Uttarakhand for a number of offences. Of these, 81 cases against Patanjali Yogpeeth and its sister concerns in Haridwar were registered for violations of the Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms (ZALR) Act and the Indian Stamps Act.
The company has been accused of misleading advertising about its products and flimsy testing before being marketed. Between April 2015 and July 2016, 33 complaints were received against 21 misleading advertisements; seventeen violated ASCI standards. In September 2017, the Delhi High Court ordered the company to stop airing an advertisement for its brand of chyavanprash which disparaged a competitor's. Company products, such as amla juice and ayurvedic medicines have been banned for poor quality.
Patanjali has been cited for its working conditions; Ramdev and Balkrishna are treated as gurus whose feet must be touched each time they enter an area. Workers are paid per month, working 12-hour shifts, six days a week. They are also discouraged from asking for a raise, with the rationale that working at the factory is considered "seva" (voluntary service) to the cause and is a payment in itself. On 22 May 2021, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in Uttarakhand sent a defamation notice of after remarks by Ramdev about doctors who practise evidence-based medicine.
Infertility cure
One of the products manufactured by Ramdev's Divya pharmacy and sold by the Patanjali Pharmacy chain was Divya Putrajeevak Seed, described in its catalog as a natural herb which (according to the company) could treat infertility. However, doctors pointed out the misleading name of the drug: the word "putrajeevak" ( "son's life" ). Some Patanjali Pharmacy stores sold the drug with the claim that it would ensure the birth of a boy, reportedly leading to an increase in sales.
The issue was raised in the Indian Parliament in July 2015 by opposition members who accused Ramdev of "peddling a product which promised delivery of male children." The Ministry of AYUSH (which oversees the sale of alternative medicines) defended the product's name, saying that it was named after a herb.
In 2016, the Uttarakhand health department said that the drug violated the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994. The Maharashtra government ordered a probe of whether the drug had violated laws in 2018, and Congress leaders in the state demanded a ban on the drug.