
After giving a tough competition to multiple FMCG giants in India's domestic market, yoga guru Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurveda is all set to tap East Asian markets by setting up a production unit in Sahibganj, a district in Jharkhand.
Baba Ramdev's move to set up next unit in Sahibganj is calculated one as the Central government had recently planned to turn the district into a multi-modal hub with direct connectivity through roads, waterways and air with neighboring countries.
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The Mint reported that the Patanjali's planned overseas expansion is in line with the government's Act East policy, which emphasises ties with India's immediate neighborhood and in the Asia-Pacific.
"Patanjali is in talks with the Inland Waterways Authority of India and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari to use the Sahibganj multi-modal terminal for export of its products to East Asian countries like China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and others. By using the inland waterways, the company will save on its logistic costs for exports and the idea is to capture the East Asian market by competing on price and quality," The Mint quoted a senior central government official as saying.
"Sahibanj is a strategic location. We are in discussion with the Jharkhand government for the industrial development of the state," a spokesperson for Patanjali Ayurved said. Sahibganj will give Patanjali direct access to Bangladesh and Myanmar, the report said.
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This is the first time Patanjali is reaching out to consumers from East Asian countries. It has already set up its production units in Nepal and Bangladesh.
Last year in September, Baba Ramdev explained how Patanjali was tapping overseas markets and said, "We have already set up our units in Nepal and Bangladesh and our products have reached the Middle East and became popular in some of the countries, including Saudi Arabia."
"We should be concentrating in poor countries as the profits from those countries will be utilised for development work there itself. The entry to Pakistan and Afghanistan will mostly depend on the prevailing political situation, and if the situation is politically conducive, units will be set up there," he had said.
Baba Ramdev wants to end the dominance of multinational corporations that have for decades been capitalising on the country's market. In order to that, the Patanjali is also planning to set up a production unit on a 40-lakh square feet at Mihan in Nagpur, which will be bigger than its first unit at Haridwar and biggest in the country.
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