Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Is Ready To Take On Indian Healthcare Startups

After launching an ecommerce portal for Patanjali products, Baba Ramdev is reportedly lining up an online platform (Chikitsalaya) for ayurvedic consultation and treatment, reported TOI.

However, the development could not be confirmed as the Patanjali spokesperson was not available for comment.

According to reports surfaced last month, Baba Ramdev-promoted Patanjali Ayurved that attained an INR 5,000 Cr turnover mark in 2015-16 is targeting a turnover of INR 10,000 Cr in 2016-17. The products offered on its portal include range of food, cosmetics, medicines, books, CDs, DVDs, and Audio cassettes.

According to government data, India is the second largest exporter of Ayurvedic and alternative medicine in the world. India is expected to rank amongst the top three pharmaceutical markets in terms of incremental growth by 2020.

Saurabh Arora, founder & CEO of Tiger Global-backed Lybrate had earlier stated, “A company that manufactures its own drugs and sets up a digital consultation platform subsequently will have a multi-fold impact on its business.”

In March 2016, Healthtech startup, Healthenablr raised about 800K (INR 5.5 Cr) in a seed round of funding by a mixed group of professionals including names from Silicon Valley and Hong Kong. It assists patients to connect with healthcare services and practitioners worldwide through its proprietary web and mobile platform.

Earlier in January 2016, Pluss, the on-demand medicine and healthcare products delivery service partnered with Baba Ramdev promoted Patanjali Ayurved in Delhi. Patanjali’s range of FMCG products including staples, groceries, nutrition, hair care, skin care, dental care, and toiletries are sold through the Pluss App across Delhi/NCR.

The healthcare market in India is expected to reach $280 Bn by 2020 at a CAGR of 22.9%. Earlier in March, Gurgaon-based healthcare startup medECUBE  raised about $4 Mn (INR 25 Crore) in series A funding from Artiman Ventures. Other players in this sector include Practo, eKincare, Ziffi, Qikwell, Curofy, Care24, etc.

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