TECH FOCUS
HOW PATANJALI'S TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS ARE ADDING TO ITS MUSCLE
ACHARYA BALKRISHNA, the Ayurvedic doctor who seldom uses a laptop, claims most of his tech knowledge has been acquired by listening to leading tech consultants. “I did learn but I also realised that their solutions won’t serve my purpose,” he says. In March 2020, Patanjali Ayurved launched its tech start-up, Bharuwa Solutions, through which it has put together a DMS or dynamc marketing software to manage its supply chain, distribution and retail billing. Balkrishna is planning to offer this to other consumer product companies, too. He is also piloting a fintech solution that promises to offer post-due diligence services to MSMEs and banks. The biggest challenge for MSMEs, says Balkrishna, is finance. "As of today, only predue diligence solutions are available, but there is no post-diligence mechanism. Our solution will enable banks to analyse the health of the company it has offered a loan to.” Bharuwa Solutions is test-marketing its solution by partnering with Punjab National Bank. “We have told them to offer loans to our distributors and retailers. Banks can monitor business health in real time. They can make out how much stock or inventory the retailer or distributor has,” explains Balkrishna.
The Ayurveda vaidya’s thirst for tech solutions doesn’t end here. His `20-crore Bharuwa Solutions, which is eyeing a revenue of `100 crore by end-FY22, is also working on a host of agri-tech solutions. It is piloting an e-mandi at Haridwar that helps farmers to sell their output virtually.
“We are building a dashboard for the government and an app for the farmer, which will give solutions such as soil testing and fertilizer and seed recommendation,” says Balkrishna.