Ramdev's Patanjali to invest Rs 100 cr for manufacturing solar equipment

Patanjali, which has gained a major foothold in the FMCG and Ayurvedic market, has shown an appetite for diversifying into various unrelated sectors

From a 'swadesi' apparel line to private security, Ramdev-promoted Patanjali Ayurved Ltd has its fingers in many pies, and now it reportedly plans to manufacture solar power equipment.

Livemint reported on Tuesday that Patanjali is set to foray into solar power equipment manufacturing. Stating that the foray was "in line with the swadeshi movement", Patanjali Ayurved Managing Director Acharya Balkrishna told the financial daily that solar power had the ability to enable each Indian household to have electricity. "We are here to make that happen," he added. This will be the company's first venture in infrastructure, the report added.    

However, how exactly will the company gain the expertise required to fabricate solar equipment? According to the report, Patanjali acquired Advance Navigation and Solar Technologies Pvt Ltd earlier this year. The company's facility, the report added, has a manufacturing capacity of 120 Mw. Further, the financial daily reported that the company plans to invest close to Rs 100 crore in manufacturing solar equipment.  

Its Greater Noida factory should be fully operational within the next few months, according to the financial daily. "We will manufacture solar panels in India without compromising the quality. But we are not going to get into the price war with the Chinese solar panels," Balkrishna said. In fact, the Patanjali managing director told the financial daily that the company had already built solar modules for its captive use, after which it decided to employ its "existing capacity to manufacture solar modules and sell in the market".

Patanjali's move comes even as the government is working on a solar manufacturing policy. Speaking to the financial daily in an exclusive interview, Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy Raj Kumar Singh said that among the broad contours of the policy, which is in the works, was a plan to give a capital subsidy of up to 30 per cent. 

This latest move is in line with the company's stated objectives. Speaking to news agencies in September this year, Ramdev said that Patanjali Ayurved would become a Rs 2-lakh crore brand in the next five years. The yoga guru added that the company planned to foray into new verticals and open new integrated food parks and manufacturing units.   

The Haridwar-based firm is aiming to have a Rs 1-lakh crore sales turnover in the next five years as it expands its product portfolio. Patanjali was also reportedly planning to borrow about Rs 5,000 crore to fund its mega food and herbal parks across the country.  

The Ayurveda-to-FMCG major reported a turnover of Rs 10,561 crore in financial year 2017 and was setting up mega units at various places like Noida, Nagpur, Indore and Andhra Pradesh. 

As reported earlier, Patanjali also plans to launch its 'swadeshi' line of apparel, including denims, for men, women, and children by April next year.     

In the recent past, Patanjali, which has gained a major foothold in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market and Ayurvedic products business, has shown an appetite for diversifying into various unrelated sectors. As reported in July, the Patanjali Group has decided to enter the private security business.  

According to agency reports, with the punch line "Parakram Suraksha, Aapki Raksha", Patanjali's security wing would be known as Ramdev's Parakram Suraksha Private Limited.

Patanjali plans to rope in retired army personnel, para-military troopers, and police personnel to "professionally train" recruits as private security guards. According to a statement released by the yoga guru and cited by these reports, the company was going ahead with this expansion with the aim of instilling "patriotic fervour among youngsters". 

In June this year, reports emerged that Ramdev would launch 10,000 Patanjali Wellness and Health Centres globally, including 1,000 in India, to popularise yoga.