Baba Ramdev on board of Ruchi Soya; brother Ram Bharat to be MD

Yoga guru Swami Ram Dev, his younger brother Ram Bharat and close aide Acharya Balkrishna will be on the board of soya food brand Nutrela-maker Ruchi Soya that was recently acquired by Patanjali Ayurved.

Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd in a notice to shareholders sought approval for appointment of Ram Bharat, 41, as the Managing Director of the company.

Subsequent to a consortium of Patanjali Ayurved Limited, Divya Yog Mandir Trust (through its business undertaking, Divya Pharmacy), Patanjali Parivahan Private Limited and Patanjali Gramudhyog acquiring Ruchi Soya in insolvency proceedings last year, the new management got right to appoint the board, the notice said.

"The board of directors of the company at its meeting held on August 19, 2020 appointed Shri Ram Bharat as managing director of the company with effect from August 19, 2020 to December 17, 2022 and his designation was changed from whole-time director to managing director," it said.

Now the shareholder approval is being sought for the appointment.

Bharat will be paid a salary of Re 1 per annum, the notice said.

Also, Acharya Balkrishna, 48, has been re-designated as chairman of the company. He too will be paid Re 1 per annum.

The notice also sought appointment of Ramdev, 49, as a director on the company board.

Besides, Girish Kumar Ahuja, Gyan Sudha Misra and Tejendra Mohan Bhasin are being appointed as independent directors on the board.

Last year, Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved paid Rs 4,350 crore to take over Ruchi Soya. The acquisition helped Patanjali acquire edible oil plants as also soybean oil brands such as Mahakosh and Ruchi Gold.

In December 2017, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) ordered the start of insolvency proceedings against Ruchi Soya to recover unpaid loans.

Out of the Rs 4,350 crore offered by Patanjali group, Rs 4,235 crore was used to pay creditors while Rs 115 crore was used for capital expenditure and working capital requirements of Ruchi Soya.

Patanjali won the bid to acquire Ruchi Soya after Adani Wilmar, which sells edible oil under the Fortune brand, withdrew from the race citing significant delays in resolution process that led to deterioration of assets.