Baba Ramdev’s Firm Got Lucky with DRDO, but Will Ladakh Benefit?

What Baba Ramdev’s exclusive deal with DRDO to process Seabuckthorn means for his firm and Ladakh.

The early bird gets the worm, or in this case, exclusive rights to DRDO technology to process seabuckthorn.

Under the terms of the agreement, Baba Ramdev’s firm Patanjali, which makes just about everything from vitamins for male sexual disorders to incense sticks, will make and distribute products made from a fruit called seabuckthorn.

The JDU has described the joint venture as “appalling” and accused the Modi government of carrying out the “saffronisation” of the organisation and for taking “political opportunism to a new low”.

For one, this tie-up between Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurveda Ltd. is not with the DRDO that makes fighter jets and missiles, but with DRDO’s subsidiary, the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) which develops technology to make life easier for soldiers posted at high-altitude battlefields like Siachen. DIHAR also develops technology for commercial markets. So one should not be entirely surprised to hear about the DRDO making products like mosquito repellants or dental implants.

Leh Amrit

Speaking to The Quint, from Leh, programme director Nirankar Saxena says Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali, with its solid distribution network should be able to do justice to what the yoga guru now calls “Leh Amrit”.

As per the rules, the DRDO’s civilian wing invites business enquiries on their website. Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali filed an expression of interest and based on that, the DRDO took a decision. We basically, conduct a market analysis to decide the viability of the venture. Baba Ramdev just happened to come to us first, but we are open to others also.
– Nirankar Saxena, Programme Director, DRDO FICCI ATAC

Why the Exclusivity for Ramdev?

What could however raise questions, is the exclusivity that Ramdev has been granted.

This license agreement is valid for a period of 10 years, but there is a five-year moratorium period during which only Patanjali will have exclusive rights to develop Leh berry.
– Nirankar Saxena, Programme Director, DRDO FICCI ATAC

But, the DRDO does not appear to have made any efforts to advertise or invite other companies to use its technology to process seabuckthorn.

“We have a website on which all our technologies are listed. Anyone can file an expression of interest”, was the programme director’s clarification.

Doesn’t this much-bashed “first-come-first-serve” policy ring a bell?

Economic + Ecological Impact

But Baba Ramdev isn’t the first entrepreneur to have recognized the potential of seabuckthorn. Two other companies had entered into an agreement with the DRDO, but ensuring consistent supply of a fruit that can be picked for only two weeks in a year, can be a challenge.

What Baba Ramdev has done is, he’s made a co-operative arrangement. 3,800 farmers will grow the fruit at a controlled rate and give it to Baba, who in turn will further develop it. This arrangement is designed to make a social impact.
– Nirankar Saxena, Programme Director, DRDO FICCI ATAC

The locals are looking beyond the business aspect and hope that the agreement will have a positive economic and ecological impact. According to Dorjay Wangchuk, only 5% of the seabuckthorn that grows wild in Leh is exploited.

If Baba Ramdev does it, then more people will come to know about it. Seabuckthorn is not farmed. It grows wild on land belonging to locals who can now avail the opportunity to sell it to an entity like Patanjali. It is however, too soon to say if it will benefit farmers.
– Dorjway Wangchuk, J&K Entrepreneur Development Institute