Maharashtra Gives 600 Acres to Baba Ramdev

Mumbai: The Maharashtra state government has given over 600 acres of land to the Patanajli Yogpeeth, run by yoga guru Baba Ramdev, for setting up an orange processing plant and units for its ayurvedic products.

Patanjali Yogpeeth signed an agreement with the state government recently, wherein the government will hand over 200 acres in Katol, Nagpur district, for the processing plant and 450 acres in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the MIHAN region for its ayurvedic products.

Patanjali, which is known for its personal care products and food and beverage, will invest over Rs 2,000 crore for its proposed ventures in the region. According to the proposal, Patanjali will buy forest products like amla, honey, aloe vera and gooseberries in bulk from the rich forest reserves of Vidarbha region to make its products.

The project is expected to start as soon as land and other facilities are provided to Patanjali Yogpeeth.

The opposition however has accused the government of blatant favouritism in tying up with the company, saying the allotted land was given at a concessional rate. Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik said if the government really had plans of promoting forest produce, it could have issued advertisements or floated tenders.

The allotted SEZ land is part of the investment heavy Multi Modal International Passenger and Cargo Hub in Nagpur.