NEW DELHI: Yoga teacher Ramdev is cooking up a recipe to take on multinational fast food chains, inclu ding KFC, McDonald 's and Subway .

With ve getarian food catching up as a global trend due to health benefits, Ramdev told TOI that he is working on launching a quick service restaurant (QSR) chain across the country that will offer 400 recipes .

“We will not divide our menu into North Indian and South Indian,“ Ramdev said. “We will give people choice because there is nothing tastier and healthier than vegetarian Indian food. When we get these recipes together, all these multinationals serving chicken or mutton will have a hard time countering us.“

True to his word, nearly 60-70% of all fast food sold in the country , including burgers and pizzas, are vegetarian. Most international QSR chains operating in the country have tweaked their menu with vegetarian food items to suit Indian palates.

Ramdev said he is also looking to open his restaurants in international markets. “I have travelled to many countries and vegetarianism is catching on like wildfire,“ he said. “People stand in queues to get access to vegetarian food.“ Ramdev, along with Patanjali Ayurved's MD & CEO Acharya Balkrishna , also announced the company's interest to foray into textiles to compete with companies such as Levis, Nike and Adidas with products such as jeans and sportswear.

Ramdev said the Haridwar-based FMCG player has recorded Rs 10,561 crore in revenue for 2016-17 with most of its products, including ghee and toothpaste, garnering healthy market share in their respective categories.

“We will become the largest home-grown FMCG player in the next one year,“ said Ramdev. The company's aim is to double its revenue year-on-year, Balkrishna added.

From around Rs 2,000 crore in 2014-15, the company has managed to grow its revenue exponentially . It plans to double the number of its distributors to 12,000 within a year and employ around five lakh people going forward from one lakh at present.

