Which billionaire is the founder of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries?

Dilip Shanghvi founded Sun Pharmaceutical Industries in 1983, establishing the Indian drug company that became known as Sun Pharma.

Shanghvi began in his father’s pharmaceutical distribution business in Kolkata, but he wanted to manufacture medicines rather than only sell products made by others. With a small loan from his father, he started Sun Pharma in Vapi, Gujarat, initially concentrating on psychiatric medicines. The company began with a single manufacturing facility.

Sun Pharma expanded through new products, research and development, and major acquisitions. Its 2014 purchase of Ranbaxy Laboratories transformed it into India’s largest pharmaceutical company and one of the world’s major generic-drug producers. The business later developed a stronger specialty-medicines portfolio.

A common mix-up is confusing Shanghvi with other Indian billionaire industrialists such as Ajay Piramal or Cyrus Poonawalla. Shanghvi’s fortune and public profile come primarily from his ownership and leadership of Sun Pharma, rather than from a diversified conglomerate or a vaccine business.