Forbes India — November 17, 2017

Vikas khot

december 29, 2017 forbes india | 25

13

Cyrus PoonAWALLA

$8.9 BILLION

SERUM INSTITUTE OF INDIA

AGE: 76

14

suniL MittAL

$8.3 BILLION 

BHARTI AIRTEL AGE: 60

15

bAjAj fAMiLy

$8 BILLION 

BAJAJ AUTO

16

sAvitri jindAL

$ 7. 5 BILLION 

OP JINDAL GROUP AGE: 67

17

vikrAM LAL

$ 7. 2 BILLION 

EICHER MOTORS AGE: 75

18

benu GoPAL bAnGur

$6.6 BILLION 

SHREE CEMENT AGE: 86

19

AChAryA bALkrishnA

$6.55 BILLION 

PATANJALI AYURVED AGE: 45

20

burMAn fAMiLy

$6.5 BILLION 

DABUR

21

subhAsh ChAndrA

$6 BILLION

ESSEL GROUP AGE: 66

22

PAnkAj PAteL

$5.9 BILLION 

CADILA HEALTHCARE AGE: 64

23

vivek ChAAnd sehGAL

$5.85 BILLION 

MOTHERSON SUMI SYSTEMS

AGE: 60

24

kushAL PAL sinGh

$5.7 BILLION 

DLF AGE: 86

25

nusLi WAdiA

$5.6 BILLION (^) 
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES
AGE: 73
i
n 2014, Dilip Shanghvi, founder of Sun
Pharmaceutical Industries, India’s
most valuable 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 by 23 percent
from a year earlier, partly because of a
generics pricing squeeze in the US, 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 with quality issues and increased
competition in export markets. In contrast
to the broader stock market rally, the
pharma index has fallen by 17 percent since
our previous list, knocking three pharma
tycoons 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 Divis Laboratories. Shares in Dr
Reddy’s fell by 6 percent 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 US Food
& Drug Administration for one of Divis
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 50), founder of Intas Pharmaceuticals,
who ran up a 70 percent 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.”
—NK
Bitter Medicine
diLiP shAnGhvi
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