Coming soon: Patanjali's 'swadeshi' jeans and 'snob value' apparel

Patanjali's apparel line will be available for consumers from April 2018

Ramdev-promoted Patanjali Ayurved Ltd plans to launch its ‘swadeshi' line of apparel, including denims, for men, women, and children by April next year, Live Mint reported on Thursday. 

Citing Ramdev’s spokesperson SK Tijarawala, the report said that the company is targeting Rs 5,000 crore in sales for the first year. 

The herbal medicine-to-packaged foods company plans to target various segments, Tijarawala told the financial daily. According to the report, there will be value-for-money apparel for budget buyers and clothes that will have "snob value". The product line will include woven clothes, knitwear, and machine-made apparel, including denims, the spokesperson said.

Citing Tijarawala, the report said that by April next year, customers will be able to buy Patanjali's clothes across 250 exclusive retail outlets. You will also be able to buy a pair of Ramdev's 'swadeshi' jeans at Kishore Biyani-led Future Group’s Big Bazaar outlets, among other apparel retail outlets, the report added. The company, according to what Tijarawala told the financial daily, may also look at reaching customers through outlets managed by the state-run Khadi and Village Industries Commission. 

Appetite for expansion

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. 

Branding push

One of the brand names under consideration for the new apparel line, the Mint report said while citing Tijarawala, is ‘Paridhan’ (apparel).

The move comes even as Patanjali, according to the Economic Times, is going digital for its advertisements and promotions in a big way. According to the financial daily, Patanjali is collaborating with Google and Facebook as it invests in advertisements tailored for online audiences for the first time. 

In fact, even without the digital push, Patanjali Ayurveda features among the top 10 most influential brand in India, along with electronic major Samsung and new entrant Reliance Jio, a study by the global research firm Ipsos showed.

According to reports from July citing the study, Patanjali bagged the fourth position in the list of the top 10 most influential brands in India.