HPMC juice not sweet for Ramdev

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 29

Himachal's apple juice has become an “apple of discord” between the Himachal Pradesh Horticultural Produce, Processing and Marketing Corporation (HPMC) and Baba Ram Dev-run Patanjali Yogpeeth. Both are locked in a blame game over the sale of apple juice and its concentrate ever since the Virbhadra government cancelled Baba’s herbal garden project at Sadhupul in Solan district.

Irked by the government’s move, yoga guru Baba Ramdev is preferably buying apple juice and its concentrate from Chinese suppliers and from juice makers in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand, revealed sources.

The Patanjali Yogpeeth had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the HPMC on March 9, 2010, for the supply of juice and its concentrate during the BJP regime. The HPMC was offering apple juice concentrate at Rs 72 a kg, which did not even cover the cost of production, revealed the sources.

The Patanjali Yogpeeth also pitched for the garden project at Sadhupul in the bargain. As per the MOU, the Patanjali Yogpeeth was to buy about 350 tonne to 700 tonne apple juice concentrate from the HPMC every year.

But Baba Ramdev got upset when the Virbhadra government cancelled the Sadhupul project. “The HPMC asked Baba Ramdev to revise the cost per kg of apple juice from Rs 72 per to Rs 100, but the Patanjali Yogpeeth dumped the HPMC offer and never responded,” said HPMC Vice-Chairman Prakash Thakur. “If Baba Ramdev is really cared a bit for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” campaign then he should buy HPMC juice concentrate,” said Thakur. “Even today, we request Baba Ramdev to direct his managers to buy local juice concentrate rather than getting it from other dubious sources,” he said.

Thakur said the yogpeeth bought juice concentrate worth Rs 195.57 lakh and 60,078 juice tetrapacks at cheap rates from the HPMC between 2010 and 2012. But there was no response from the yogpeeth whether or not the Baba wanted HPMC products after the Congress came to power, he added.