Learn from the Patels how to turn a family business into a multi-billion company

Here is the story of the chairman of Zydus Lifesciences: Pankaj Patel.

Pankaj Ramanbhai Patel belongs to Gujarat and comes from a business family which is no second nature to Gujaratis. He is the chairman of Zydus Lifesciences (formerly known as Cadila Healthcare) which is India’s fourth-largest pharmaceutical company and of course, he is a billionaire with a net worth of $4 billion (approximately Rs 30,000 crore). According to Forbes real-time net worth tracker and currently ranks 32nd on Indian richest person list.

Pankaj Patel’s journey has been from rags to riches. His father founded Cadila Healthcare in 1952 to produce vitamins. He completed Bachelor of Pharmacy and Master of Pharmacy degrees from Gujarat University. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Science and Law from Mumbai University. Only after completing his education, did he join his father’s pharma business.

Having a family-owned business is one thing, but taking the same business to new sky highs is not an ordinary thing. Patel has just the extra-ordinary thing and has made Cadila a leading pharma company in India with a market capitalization of Rs 37,330 crore.

The company had an annual turnover of about Rs 250 crore back in 1995. From there, it has been growing exponentially such that in FY21 it has a turnover of about Rs 15,102 crore. Today the company has a market share of about 4.2% making it the fourth-largest company in India. In the animal healthcare segment, it ranks second in India. It has become popular for its vaccine portfolio which is perhaps the largest in the Indian pharma industry that covers over twelve vaccines. It is also in the process to develop vaccine to fight covid called as Zycov-D.

Pankaj Patel is also associated with famous institutions across India. He became president of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) in 2017. He is also the chairman of various IIMs and research institutes.