Yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar, Uttar Pradesh, has emerged as the country’s largest buyer of red sanders in a market which is reportedly dominated by the Chinese.According to a report in The Times of India, Ramdev’s ashram has purchased 706 tonnes of red sanders wood for Rs 207cr in a recent auction conducted by the Andhra Pradesh government.Red sanders has been in the news recently after the Andhra Pradesh police had killed 20 people in regard to ‘smuggling’ of the wood.The report mentions that Ramdev’s facility had purchased the ‘C grade’ variety of the wood, which fetched close to Rs 29 lakh per tonne at the auction. The ‘A’ and ‘B’ grade varieties have gone for Rs 1.75 crore per tonne and Rs 1.5 crore per tonne respectively.What purposes Ramdev’s facility uses the wood for is unclear according to report, which says though that the wood is used as an aphrodisiac in China and other East Asian countries.The AP government has reportedly exported 300 tonnes to Hong Kong via China on April 8 and a 1000 tonnes is set to sail to the same location on April 22. Another round of e-auctions is also supposed to take place in May where the government hopes to sell another 3500 tonnes of the wood via bidding. In addition, the state government is planning to set up a central warehouse in Tirupati is set to come up to house the 2200 tonnes of red sanders which has confiscated from smugglers.Read more at: Ramdev’s Patanjali biggest domestic buyer of red sanders