Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved likely to set up manufacturing unit near Noida Expressway

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved is likely to set up a manufacturing facility in the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) area in Gautam Budh Nagar district. The factory which will cater to the growing demand for its FMCG products in the northern India market is also likely to come up alongside a proposed Ayurveda University, Medicity and Yogpeeth complete with a naturopathy treatment and research centre along the banks of the Yamuna.

All this will be set up in nearly 700-800 acres of land at a cost of over Rs 1,000 crore. Baba Ramdev's key aide, Acharya Balkrishna, met YEIDA officials on Monday and held an initial round of talks, besides inspecting land for the proposed project along the Yamuna expressway after handing over a formal proposal to Arunvir Singh, chief executive officer (CEO), YEIDA.

Significantly, Acharya Balkrishna told mediapersons that after Haridwar unit, which was set up almost 10 years back in an area of 150 acres, this could be the largest project set up by Patanjali. "We are exploring the possibility of setting up three processing units across 350 acres," said Balkrishna.

"We are also likely to add an Ayurved Mahavidyala across 50 acres, an Acharykulam, a school based on Vedic-cum-modern education across 60 acres, a Patanjali gramudyog in 30 acres, a Divya pharmacy across 50 acres and Yoga, Naturopathy and Panchkarma centre across 400 acres," he told a leading daily.

He further informed, "We have seen the land located in the YEIDA area. It is contiguous and suits our purpose. I will now work out the details of the project in consultation with Baba Ramdev. It will be launched in a time-bound manner and could be in place within the year.”

Meanwhile, Arunvir Singh, CEO, YEIDA unveiled that land required for the proposed project has been identified in sectors 22E, 24 and 24A of YEIDA. This land is located along the 165-km Yamuna expressway, which connects Greater Noida to Agra. "Most of the land has already been acquired by YEIDA. Only some bit of agricultural land, which is required, will have to be purchased from the farmers," Singh said.

"After discussions with Acharya Balkrishna, we will now work on the modalities of providing road network for transportation required by vehicles for the processing units. We have also been asked to provide 'green' land adjoining the Yamuna river bank for setting up the Yoga, Naturopathy and Panchkarma center," he said.

"Once we receive a formal application, land will be allotted within 15 days," he said. YEIDA officials further said that the area adjacent to the Yamuna expressway is attracting interest for large-scale projects and it has become a hub for integrated townships and other mixed-land use projects. Two Electronic Manufacturing Clusters have already been approved by the state government in the area, officials said.