Ramdev

Founder of Patanjali

Net worth: ₹45 billion (US$700 million)

Baba Ramdev (born as Ramkrishna Yadav in Haryana) is a yoga guru known for his work in ayurveda, business, politics and agriculture. He founded the Patanjali Group of Institutions and has shown interest in political issues.

Ramdev founded the Divya Yog Mandir Trust in 1995. In 2003, Aastha TV began featuring him in its morning yoga slot. There he proved to be telegenic and gained a large following. A large number of people, celebrities from India & abroad attended his Yoga camps. He taught yoga to many celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Shilpa Shetty and in foreign countries including Britain, the US & Japan. He also addressed Muslim clerics at their seminary in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh. In 2006, he was invited by Kofi Annan to deliver a lecture on poverty alleviation at a United Nations conference. Yogi Haider considered the face of yoga in Pakistan, says that his ambition is to popularize yoga like Ramdev Baba did in India.

Organizations founded

Patanjali Yogpeeth

A view of Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar (Uttarakhand) India

Patanjali Yogpeeth is an institute founded for the promotion and practice of Yoga and Ayurveda. It has two Indian campuses, Patanjali Yogpeeth I and Patanjali Yogpeeth II in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. And part from India other locations include UK, US, Nepal, Canada and Mauritius.

Ramdev established the Patanjali Yog Peeth (UK) Trust in 2006, with the aim of promoting yoga in the UK. To extend PatanjaliYogpeeth, he also acquired the Scottish island of Little Cumbrae.

Patanjali Ayurved

Patanjali Ayurved is a consumer packaged goods company, based in Haridwar, that was started by Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna in 2006. According to a company official, sales in early March 2016 were ₹45 billion (US$700 million) with monthly sales of ₹5 billion (US$78 million)–₹5.5 billion (US$85 million). According to a report by India Infoline (IIFL), at least 13 listed companies would be affected by Patanjali's success including Colgate, Dabur, ITC and Godrej Consumer.

In 2015, the Maharashtra government announced plans to sell excessive material from its Van Dhan Jan Dhan scheme to Patanjali. The government set up this scheme to sell medicinal and herbal products, derived from the forests of Maharashtra, to the consumer in government-established shops. Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar stated that its plan to sell wholesale to Patanjali is an effort to increase production from the Van Dhan Jan Dhan scheme. Members of the opposition party have stated that the forest products are a national asset, and plans to sell them to Patanjali is a form of favoritism.

Bharat Swabhiman Trust

In 2010, Ramdev announced plans to form a political party called Bharat Swabhiman (India Pride). He said that it would contest every seat in the next national elections. A year later, he stated that, instead of forming a political party, he would influence politics by encouraging a groundswell of popular reaction. In 2014, Ramdev announced that Bharat Swabhiman intended to contest some constituencies in the general election of that year and to form alliances with some other parties. It was at this time that he voiced his support for Narendra Modi to become the next Prime Minister of India. His attempts to run yoga camps during that election campaign, allegedly to gain support for Modi, were stymied by the Election Commission of India (ECI) who determined that they were politically motivated. The ECI had also tried to control his use of camps in the Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh state elections of 2013.

Ramdev founded an organisation called the Bharat Swabhiman Trust in 2009, in part, to support his political activities. The financial arrangements of this and his two other trusts, the Divya Yog and Patanjali Yogpeeth, came under ECI scrutiny during the 2014 elections because of a complaint that they were being used to fund the campaigns of some political parties.

Awards and recognitions

• anuary 2015 - Considered for Padma Vibushan, second highest civilian award but day before 66th Republic day, humbly refrained from taking it by putting the fact he is an ascetic.
• July 2007 - British House Of Commons honored Baba Ramdev.
• July 2007 - Legislature of State of New Jersey honored Baba Ramdev for his remarkable history of steadfast commitment to improving health in mind, body and spirit and to enhancing the well being of people from all social backgrounds, races and religions.
• June 2007 - Nassau County honored and celebrated 30 June 2007 as Swami Ramdev Day.
• September 2007 - Felicitated by K.L. Chugh, Chairman of ASSOCHAM at the 5th Global Knowledge Millennium Summit.
• January 2007 – Honorary Doctorate, by Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar, in recognition of his efforts to popularise the Vedic system/science of Yoga.
• January 2009 - Conferred with the title "Mahamahopadhyaya" by Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.
• January 2011 – Honoured with Sri Chandrashekharendra Saraswati National Eminence Award by Maharashtra Governor K. Shankaranarayanan.
• July 2012 - Honoured with Tarun Kranti Award at Ahmedabad in National Icon category by Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister of India. The award is constituted by eminent Digambara Jain monk Tarunsagar.
• April 2015 - Government of Haryana appointed Ramdev as brand ambassador of Yoga and Ayurveda. He was given the status of Cabinet minister for Haryana but had declined it saying that he wanted to continue serving as a Baba.
• May 2016 American business magazine Fast Company ranked Ramdev 27th in its 'Most Creative Business People of 2016' list.
• April 2017 - Magazine India Today Ranked #5th in India's 50 Most powerful people of 2017 list.