In India, a yoga guru is selling his own SIM cards

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In India, a yoga guru is selling his own SIM cards
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and Patanjali MD Acharya Balkrishna at the announcement of availability of Patanjali products across major online portals, in New Delhi on Tuesday.Photo by Arun Sharma

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After disrupting the consumer goods sector with his Patanjali ayurvedic brand, which is targeting ₹200 billion in annual revenues by 2022 , Baba Ramdev now has his sights set on the crowded telecom sector.

Ramdev started off as a yogi and gained fame with regular appearances on television. He then launched his consumer good brand, Patanjali Ayurved, in 2006. The company offers everything from herbal toothpaste to cosmetics to snacks. The brand even commenced e-commerce operations earlier this year in January.

On May 27th, the yogi unveiled his own brand of SIM cards, Swadeshi Samriddhi (which roughly translates to National Prosperity) SIM cards, as part of an alliance with with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), India’s state-owned telecom company. The SIM card will be used by the employees of Patanjali ahead of a full market launch, which will be conducted via BSNL’s distribution network.


Given the price wars in India’s telecom sector, a consequence of Reliance Jio’s entry, Baba Ramdev has chosen to price his SIM cards at extremely modest rates. Customers only need to pay a paltry sum of ₹144 to avail a connection that includes unlimited calling, 100 text messages and 2 gigabytes worth of data.

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What’s more, Swadeshi Samriddhi subscribers will also receive a 10% discount on all Patanjali products as well as ₹250,000 worth of medical insurance coverage and ₹500,000 worth of life insurance coverage. There is, however, an odd catch to the insurance coverage - it only kicks in in the event of a road accident.

The timeline of the SIM card’s market launch wasn’t revealed, but its expected to take place within the next few months. Speaking at the launch, Ramdev pledged that the SIM card was “for the welfare of the country”.

While the impact of the move on competing telcos remains to be seen, it seems that mobile subscribers will continue to benefit from low prices for the foreseeable future.
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