International yoga guru Bharat Thakur to launch apparel line, health products in S-E Asia, India; focus on tier-II towns

After having zero sized some of the brightest stars in the celebrity world, international yoga guru Bharat Thakur is turning his attention to expanding his business across south-east Asia, besides India. The man, whose clientele includes Vladimir Putin, Madonna, Boris Becker, Michael Douglas, Shane Warne and Kareena Kapoor, is also planning an IPO for ?Artistic Yoga?, his flagship chain of training institutes. A high-end apparel line and health products are also on the anvil. ?The main focus of my business so far has been international, Now, I want to turn my attention to ramping up in India and south-east Asia, and I am especially interested in tier-II towns,? said Thakur.

Thakur is investing close to R100 crore in the next three years to expand in India and south-east Asia, in countries including Oman, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand. In India alone, he expects to start150 institutes in two years, with an emphasis on tier-II towns such as Surat, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Kanpur, Bhopal, Indore, Udaipur, Jaipur, Ludhiana, Patna, Ranchi, and Jamshedpur.

?We are looking at an IPO in the next five years, by which time we should have monthly revenues of R400 crore,? he told FE. Currently, Artistic Yoga has a monthly turnover of close to R100 crore, with margins of up to 70%. Currently, Artistic Yoga has more than 150 centres across the globe in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, United States and UK. Russia, where Thakur trains a large portion of of the country’s polity, and industrialists like Systema chairman Vladimir Evtushenkov, contributes to 30% of Artistic Yoga’s turnover, while Spain is a large contributor as well. Thakur’s health product line, which will include herbs and natural medication, is also currently under development in Austria and Malaysia, and is pending global approvals.

“I would like to launch it in the US first, and then bring it to India. Regulatory approvals are much more stringent there, and I want to be able to reassure people that my products will not be your run-of-the-mill, dime-a-dozen sort of Indian herbs. My apparel line will be in the high-end category, to compete with something like a Diesel in quality. However, it will be specifically designed for practicing yoga,? added Thakur.