With a paltry capital of Rs 10,000, he chose the least traveled road and went places—building a pharmaceutical empire on which the sun has yet to set.
A risk taker, he kept on fortifying the organization brick by brick through numerous takeovers and acquisitions.
In March 2015, he became India’s richest man.
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Childhood
Dilip Shanghvi was born on October 1, 1955 in Amreli to a Gujarati family.
He grew up watching his father handle his wholesale pharmaceutical distribution business.
 Shanghvi is an alumnus of the University of Calcutta where he completed his Bachelor of Arts/Science degree.
He is also a graduate of Bhawanipur Education Society College and J J Ajmera High School.
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Career
Shanghvi started by helping his father in the latter’s wholesale generic drugs business in Kolkata. It was during his work as a drugs distributor that he thought of making his own drugs instead of selling others’ products.
This started the journey of Sun Pharma, which was founded with two marketing executives and five psychiatry drugs in 1982. Back then, very few multinational drug firms would make these drugs, as their products were selling well.
The manufacture of such drugs by them was only to show their presence in the market, with not many doctors even prescribing these medicines.
Shanghvi tasted success in the very first year, when he did business of about Rs 7 lakh. Soon, he realised that he must have his own factory, so he borrowed money and set up a manufacturing unit.
By the 1990s, the company had made its mark. In 1993, the company re-invested its entire profit of Rs 4 crore in setting up its own research centre and in the following year it hit the capital market with a public issue.
Along the way, Shanghvi added to Sun Pharma’s portfolio with well-judged takeovers and Joint Ventures.
Adept at taking over ailing units and turning them into performers, Shanghvi has been on an intensive acquisition drive since the year 1997 and took over 13 firms in the next 13 years. Acquiring the Detroit-based Caraco Pharmaceuticals in 1997 and Israel’s Taro Pharma in 2007 provided a bastion in the US market.
In 2014, Sun Pharma made further history by outright acquiring Ranbaxy Laboratories, making the resulting conglomerate the world’s 5th largest specialty generic pharma company.
Shanghvi has won numerous awards and recognitions in his career. He is also CMD of Sun Pharma Advanced Research Co and chairman of the Shantilal Shanghvi Foundation.
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Personal Life
Since childhood, he was passionate about reading comics, novels and science books. He is married to Vibha and the couple has two children.
His son, Aalok, was the co-founder of solar panel maker PV Powertech and also heads international marketing at Sun Pharma. His daughter Vidhi, a Wharton graduate, is slowly learning the ropes of the trade.
He who loves South Indian food – Matunga’s Mysore Cafe and Madras Cafe are among his favourite foods joints in Mumbai. He hates to travel. His typical day involves travelling from his Juhu home to a non-descript narrow and dusty lane that leads to the company’s headquarters in suburban Andheri.