13
CYRUS POONAWALLA
$8.9 BILLION
SERUM INSTITUTE OF INDIA AGE: 76
14
SUNIL MITTAL
$8.3 BILLION S
BHARTI AIRTEL AGE: 60
15
BAJAJ FAMILY
$8 BILLION S
BAJAJ AUTO
16
SAVITRI JINDAL
$7.5 BILLION S
O.P. JINDAL GROUP AGE: 67
17
VIKRAM LAL
$7.2 BILLION S
EICHER MOTORS AGE: 75
18
BENU GOPAL BANGUR
$6.6 BILLION S
SHREE CEMENT AGE: 86
19
ACHARYA BALKRISHNA
$6.55 BILLION S
PATANJALI AYURVED AGE: 45
20
BURMAN FAMILY
$6.5 BILLION S
DABUR
21
SUBHASH CHANDRA
$6 BILLION
ESSEL GROUP AGE: 66
22
PANKAJ PATEL
$5.9 BILLION S
CADILA HEALTHCARE AGE: 64
23
VIVEK CHAAND SEHGAL
$5.85 BILLION S
MOTHERSON SUMI SYSTEMS AGE: 60
24
KUSHAL PAL SINGH
$5.7 BILLION S
DLF AGE: 86
25
NUSLI WADIA
$5.6 BILLION Ì
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES AGE: 73THE LIST
SUP MORE THAN 10% TDOWN MORE THAN 10%
ÌNEW TO LIST 3 RETURNEEI
n 2014 Dilip Shanghvi, founder of Sun Phar-
maceutical Industries, India’s most valu-
able drug company, became the country’s
second-richest person, dislodging steel tycoon
Lakshmi Mittal. After his $4 billion acquisition
of scandal-tainted rival Ranbaxy Laboratories
from Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo, Shanghvi was on
a roll. So was India’s pharma sector, which was
minting billionaires at a record pace.
Today both are facing headwinds. The
pharma magnate is the biggest dollar loser this
year, poorer by $4. 8 billion. Ending his three-
year run as India’s second-richest, he slipped to
No. 9. In the quarter ended in June, Sun’s sales
declined 23 % from a year earlier, partly because
of a generics pricing squeeze in the U.S., the
company’s biggest market. It reported a loss for
the quarter of $66 million, its first in four years,
due largely to one-off legal costs.
Sun’s woes are mirrored across the Indian
generics sector, which has been struggling lately
with quality issues and increased competition in
export markets. In contrast to the broader stock
market rally, the pharma index has fallen 17%
since our previous list, knocking three pharmatycoons from the ranks and denting the net
worths of several of those who remain.
Notable among the latter are the Reddy
family (No. 97) of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and
Murali Divi (No. 77) of Divi’s Laboratories.
Shares in Dr. Reddy’s fell 6 % on a single day in
September on news that an audit of one of its
factories by German regulators had uncovered
manufacturing lapses. An import alert issued
by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for
one of Divi’s Laboratories’ factories caused sales
and net profits to plummet in the quarter ended
June. “From being a defensive play, the pharma
sector has turned into a wealth destroyer,” says
Arun Kejriwal, founder of Kris, a Mumbai
investment advisory firm.
One privately held fortune that bucked the
trend was that of Hasmukh Chudgar (No. 5 0),
founder of Intas Pharmaceuticals, who ran up
a 70% gain following a private equity deal that
valued his company at $3. 5 billion.
Says Ranjit Shahani, vice chairman and
managing director of Novartis India: “Given the
huge health care needs of this country, India
remains a sweet spot.” —N.K.Bitter Medicine
DILIP SHANGHVIKUNI TAKAHASHI/BLOOMBERG