Acharya Balkrishna – The Man Behind Patanjali Ayurved’s Success

Acharya Balkrishna

Acharya Balkrishna is the man behind the Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved’s stratospheric success. Balkrishna is unmarried and lives in Haridwar, Uttarakhand.

Patanjali Ayurved is fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company in India. Patanjali is the second-largest pure-play FMCG giant.

He holds a 94% stake in Patanjali Ayurved, but he doesn’t take home a salary. Acharya Balkrishna hasn’t taken a single day’s leave.

Patanjali Ayurved’s Traditional CEO

Acharya Balkrishna is known as Balkrishna also. He is an Indian entrepreneur, billionaire businessperson, chairperson, and CEO of Patanjali Ayurved. Patanjali Ayurved is a consumer goods company.

Acharya Balkrishna works for 15 to 16 hours a day, even on Sundays and other holidays during the year. As of May 2011, he was reported by Forbs to have net worth of US$ 2.3 billion.

Early life of Acharya Balkrishna

Full name of Acharya is Balkrishna Survedi. Acharya was born on 4th August 1972 in Syangja, Nepal. Sumitra Devi and Jay Vallabh Subedi are his parents. His father was a security guard in an ashram in Uttrakhand.

Acharya Balkrishna joined Kalwa gurkul in Haryana. After completing primary & secondary education, he travelled across India to study plants & their medical medicinal values.

He met baba ramdev for first time at Tripura yoga ashram kankhal haridwar in early 1990s. They both went to Himalaya near gangotri uttrakhand in 1993.

Entrepreneurial Journey

Acharya Balkrishna & Ramdev founded Divya Yoga Mandir Trust in Haridwar in 1995. They founded Patanjali Ayurved, a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company involved in the manufacturing and trading of FMCG, herbal, and ayurvedic products in 2006.

Sunita and Sarwan Poddar, helped to kick-start the business with a loan. As per Balkrishna they took 50-600 million loan at a time but they did not have personal bank account of this name.

As per 31st March 2020, Patanjali’s revenue stood at about Rs 8,522.68 crore. Balkrishna owns 98.6% of company & he is the MD of Patanjali. In 2020, he was listed in in India’s 50 most influential personalities.

Even Forbes India Rich List 2020 listed him as India’s third-youngest billionaire. His supporters celebrate his birthday as Jadi Booti Divas (Herbs Day).

He never took salary from Patanjali Ayurveda while working as CEO & MD. In 2019, he was admitted in AIMS Rishikesh with complain of giddiness & chest pain.

Baba Ramdev does not have stake in Patanjali. He is only the face across the Yoga camps & TV programs.

Awards

  • In 2019, he was awarded the Champions of Change award for his work in the field of Ayurved.
  • He was honoured with the “UNSDG 10 Most Influential People in Healthcare Award”, for his work in Healthcare sector.
  • In 2018, Central Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore awarded him with AIMA Managing India Award for the “Transformational Business Leader of the Year”.
  • He received “Bheeshma Puraskar” by Sant shree Gyaneshwar Gurukul, Pune.
  • CFI.co honoured him with received “Best Wellness Impact Global award”.
  • He received “Degree of Doctor of letter (Yoga) (Honoris Causa)” by S-Vyasa Deemed University Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana for outstanding work done in the field of Yoga and Ayurveda.
  • In 2018, he was awarded with “Geeta Ratna Samman” by Spirituality Consciousness Association for his contribution towards Yoga and Ayurveda.
  • News 24 awarded him with with “Jashn-e-Youngistan Samman for Business Icon of the Year”.
  • In 2017, Tilak Smarak Trust honoured him with “Lokmanya Tilak Award 2017” for his contribution towards promotion Yoga & Ayurveda.
  • On 23rd October, former president of India APJ Abdul Kalam with certificate of appreciation honoured him during a yoga camp in the rashtrapati bhavan.

He works as General Secretary at Divya Yog Mandir, Patanjali Yogpeeth & Patanjali Gramodhyog Trust.

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He is MD (Managing Director) at Patanjali Ayurved Limited & Vice hancellor at Patanjali University. Even he works as Chief Editor at Yog Sandesh.