Patanjali now launches swadeshi messaging app Kimbho to compete with Whatsapp

Barely 2 days after Baba Ramdev led Patanjali launched Swadeshi Samriddhi SIM cards in collaboration with BSNL, they have launched a new swadeshi messaging application called Kimbho to compete with WhatsApp. They have chosen the name very wisely, as the word Kimbho is a sankrit word which means what’s up. With the launch of a messaging app within two days of launching after the SIM cards it seems Baba Ramdev is very serious about his telecommunication venture which he has planned it to the last detail. Ramdev’s dream is to have products in every sector which are Indian made. He wants Patanjali to be a conglomerate like Tata and Birla, and he is pursuing this dream very ambitiously. “Now Bharat will speak. After launching SIM cards, Baba Ramdev has launched a new messaging application called Kimbho. Now Whats App will be given competition. Our own #Swadeshi messaging platform. Download it directly from Google Play store,” tweeted, SK Tijarawala the spokesman of Patanjali.

Baba Ramdev is well known for taking up new challenges head-on. He allegedly defeated paralysis by practicing Yoga, popularized the dying Vedic Indian tradition throughout the world, took on black money and looks after India’s most trusted Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company Patanjali Ayurveda. Now his company aims to be a conglomerate showing interest in industries like cloth manufacturing, horticulture, and telecommunication.

Baba Ramdev is an astute businessman and a master strategist when it comes to brand building. He assessed it very well that top Indian FMCG companies are foreign origin multinationals, and then used the plank of Swadeshi to build brand loyalty among customers. The Indian FMCG sector is known to be the most competitive with multinationals like ITC, Hindustan Unilever Limited and old homegrown Dabur, Britania, Parle et,c but Patanjali Ayurveda now has a strong presence in the FMCG sector within the short span of just a decade. Patanjali’s sales and profits have grown exponentially over the last few years, and now that the company is venturing into other sectors, it will be interesting to see whether it can repeat a similar success story as that of FMCG. It will be difficult to overthrow a competitor like Whatsapp. But then again, that’s what we said about P&G. Baba Ramdev has a large following, and the products are generally loved by people.

Hike is the only big messaging app from India, and it is connected to Airtel, having been developed by Kavin Mittal, son of Airtel MD Sunil Mittal. Although the app saw some success in its initial years, it has not been able to take on Whatsapp effectively. Kimbho caters to private and group chats with free phone and video calling. The application has dozens of features to share text, audio, photos, videos, stickers, quickies, location, GIFs, and doodle, according to its brief on the Google Play Store. The tagline of Kimbho says “Ab Bharat Bolega”. It will be interesting to see whether Kimbho can take on the global messaging giant successfully and whether it can become the next big tech product from India.

It will also be interesting to watch how Baba Ramdev goes forward with his business, considering he’s confidently taking up anything and everything. His dream of self-reliance and using Swadeshi products is making him launch products in markets across various sectors. Patanjali Ayurved had also ventured into e-commerce when it launched its e-commerce operations with website Patanjaliayurved.net earlier this year. Patanjali has almost 5000 retail outlets in India with a strong rural presence. As most research predicts that in upcoming years demand will be huge from rural and small-town India, it will be a huge advantage to Patanjali. As of the near future, the most important thing for Patanjali will be to make sure that its telecommunication venture can compete with the likes of Whatsapp and Hike.