NEW DELHI: Patanjali Ayurved, India's home-grown FMCG brand, has announced earnings of Rs 10,561 crore for FY17, placing it second only to Hindustan Unilever in revenue and well ahead of its other international FMCG rivals.

The company, founded in 2006, has soared to become one of the most powerful brands in India, outpacing multinational competitors which have been active in India for decades.

(For more, including how the company is building an alternative brand to international competitors, read WARC's exclusive report: Patanjali Ayurved – the rise and rise of India’s homegrown FMCG giant.)

According to the Economic Times, Patanjali's most recent revenue announcement of Rs 10,561 crore (over US$1.6bn) for the financial year to March 31 2017 eclipsed the combined revenue of multinational competitors Colgate-Palmolive, GSK Consumer Healthcare and P&G Hygiene and Healthcare, and catapults the company ahead of Nestle India for FMCG revenue in India.

In an exclusive interview with WARC earlier this year, Patanjali's Head of Marketing, Avinash Kumar, was very confident the company would smash revenue targets: "We don't look at the past, we only look at the future. The only threat we fear is complacency, that is our only competition," he said.

"We have the bandwidth to be successful across all categories. We have a team of champions. We get the job done."

Patanjali's biggest concern, Kumar said, is that it might not be able to keep up with booming demand for its products, particularly in the oral care category.

"We have different worries. Our worry is that our customers look for our products and we are not able to service them," he said.

The company is now looking to hit Rs 20,000 crore in sales this fiscal year as it plans to double its distribution network to 12,000-strong.

With an aggressive pricing strategy and a TV advertising focus, Patanjali has opened up new markets, previously untouched – and they are not worried about the competition.

"We don't discuss multinationals or anybody for that matter, and there is a reason behind it," Kumar said in his interview with WARC.

"We have decided hum apni line badi karenge, humme doosron ki line chhoti karne mein koi interest nahin. And sabse badi baat hai ki woh pareshan hain, hum pareshan nahin hain! [We have decided that we will strengthen our own line, we have no interest in reducing the line of others. The biggest thing is, they are worried, we aren't!]"

Data sourced from Economic Times; additional content by WARC staff