 "Baba Ramdev")
Since its inception, Patanjali Ayurved’s fame has largely been driven by yoga guru Baba Ramdev. His claim to fame was morning yoga shows teaching anuloma-viloma or kapalbhati pranayama on religious TV channels. With Acharya Balkrishna as managing director, Ramdev grew Patanjali beyond yoga to an FMCG empire of almost Rs 10,000 crore by revenue.
But apart from the duo, Ramdev’s younger brother Ram Bharat has been running the machine behind the scenes.
Bharat, who is in his early forties, handles the day-to-day operations of the group like a de facto CEO. Though he has never held any fancy designation, he is considered third in the power index of the Patanjali group.
The media-shy Bharat had always managed to stay below the radar. But that changed on August 19, when in a board meeting, Ruchi Soya announced that Bharat would take over as its new managing director as Balkrishna stepped down.
Ruchi Soya was acquired by the Patanjali group in December 2019, and Balkrishna was inducted as executive director and CMD, while Bharat became a whole-time director and Ramdev, a non-executive director.
But because of this board reshuffle at Ruchi Soya, Ramdev’s right-hand man will now be taking the centre stage with a more powerful role and will break out of his earlier behind-the-scenes character.
Covert induction into the empire
Bharat is the third among four children born to Ram Niwas Yadav and Gulabo Devi in Mahendragarh, Haryana. While eldest brother Devdutt and his family still live in the ancestral village, the rest shifted to Haridwar, where Ramdev was setting up his empire.
Bharat was part of this journey from the beginning and is considered among the four pillars of the power centre at Patanjali, equivalent in stature to Ramdev, Balkrishna and Swami Muktananda—the three founders of the group.
When it comes to running the establishment, Ramdev’s role is to evolve broad strategies for the group along with Balkrishna, the designated managing director of the group. Balkrishna also oversees product development. Swami Muktananda handles Patanjali Yog Peeth and also serves as the managing director of Vedic Broadcasting, but is not actively involved on the business side.
But apart from the duo, Ramdev’s younger brother Ram Bharat has been running the machine behind the scenes.
Bharat, who is in his early forties, handles the day-to-day operations of the group like a de facto CEO. Though he has never held any fancy designation, he is considered third in the power index of the Patanjali group.
The media-shy Bharat had always managed to stay below the radar. But that changed on August 19, when in a board meeting, Ruchi Soya announced that Bharat would take over as its new managing director as Balkrishna stepped down.
Ruchi Soya was acquired by the Patanjali group in December 2019, and Balkrishna was inducted as executive director and CMD, while Bharat became a whole-time director and Ramdev, a non-executive director.
But because of this board reshuffle at Ruchi Soya, Ramdev’s right-hand man will now be taking the centre stage with a more powerful role and will break out of his earlier behind-the-scenes character.
Covert induction into the empire
Bharat is the third among four children born to Ram Niwas Yadav and Gulabo Devi in Mahendragarh, Haryana. While eldest brother Devdutt and his family still live in the ancestral village, the rest shifted to Haridwar, where Ramdev was setting up his empire.
Bharat was part of this journey from the beginning and is considered among the four pillars of the power centre at Patanjali, equivalent in stature to Ramdev, Balkrishna and Swami Muktananda—the three founders of the group.
When it comes to running the establishment, Ramdev’s role is to evolve broad strategies for the group along with Balkrishna, the designated managing director of the group. Balkrishna also oversees product development. Swami Muktananda handles Patanjali Yog Peeth and also serves as the managing director of Vedic Broadcasting, but is not actively involved on the business side.
