Mr. Ajay Piramal leads the Piramal Group, one of the most respected diversified conglomerates with a presence across 100 countries. Applauded as an exceptional entrepreneur and innovator, he enabled the Piramal Group to evolve from a textile centric business to a USD 2 billion conglomerate with diversified business interests across pharmaceuticals, packaging, financial services and real estate.
Diversified conglomerate:
Piramal Healthcare (NSE : PIRHEALTH) is a world leader in its various business verticals. It has a global footprint of over 100 countries, manufacturing bases in India, USA, Europe, Sri Lanka, China and Canada and a diversified workforce representing the Piramal Group’s diversified global portfolio.
Recently, the UN Conference on Trade and Development’s World Investment Report 2011 ranked Piramal Healthcare’s CMO (contract manufacturing) business vertical as number five in the top 10 pharmaceutical contract manufacturers; and was awarded the
number one position amongst all Indian CMOs.
Piramal Healthcare is globally the 3rd largest company in the critical care with a presence in 70 countries. In the OTC segment, Piramal Healthcare is the fastest growing company with a portfolio of strong brands like Saridon, Lacto Calamine and Supractive
Complete.
Piramal Life Sciences (now being merged into Piramal Healthcare) is dedicated to original drug discovery and has a pipeline of 14 molecules in the clinic in 4 therapy areas : Oncology, Inflammation, Diabetes, Anti-invectives
Indiareit is Piramal Group’s real estate equity funding arm. It is the largest Reit fund by AUM (assets under management) in India i.e. Rs 3.8 bn by June, 2011.
PHL Finance Pvt Ltd. is the non-banking financial company (NBFC) that has recently formed to look into funding of real estate and infrastructure projects.
Piramal Glass (NSE : PIRGLASS) is the largest specialty glass player in Asia and is one of the fastest growing glass companies in the world in the last 10 years. It has 17 of the world’s top 20 cosmetic companies as clients.
Piramal Realty with a current development pipeline of 28 mn sft aspires to be the most respected developer. The group has pioneered progressive developments- Crossroads – Mumbai’s first retail destination, workspace (Peninsula Corporate Park) and gated communities (Ashok Towers).
The Piramal Group steadfastly pursues inclusive growth while adhering to ethical and value driven practices. Mr. Piramal has through the Piramal Foundation dedicated himself towards democratizing healthcare, increasing skill building & education, empowerment of women and the development of the youth.
He is the Chairman of the Piramal Foundation which makes significant contributions to the community through the following initiatives.
Piramal Foundation for Education Leadership is setting up India’s first and the world’s largest Education Leadership training academy. The academy will offer in-service and pre-service leadership training programs for school heads and education administrators of the government system. The Piramal Fellowship
is a separate 2 year program for fresh college graduates who work with rural school principals and help them turnaround failing schools.
Piramal eSwasthya brings quality primary healthcare to rural India through its 51 centers by blending the skills of local women in the village interiors and telemedicine.
Piramal Water addresses the problem of lack of clean drinking water and consequential serious health concerns in the interiors of India. Started in 5 remote districts of Gujarat and Rajasthan, Piramal Water has created employment for 250 rural villagers across its 120 centers and supplies clean drinking water to 70,000
individuals each day.
Source For Change is a rural BPO which imparts computer training and language skills to the rural woman from Bagar, Rajasthan. This initiative has been running for past 4 years, and has led to an increased confidence amongst the woman populace of that district.
Health Management & Research Institute (HMRI) reaches out to the remote corners of Andhra Pradesh and moving to newer states – Rajasthan, Assam and Maharashtra, to create an integrated digital healthcare delivery network. The Piramal Group is providing HMRI with financial and management support to scale the project to a pan India level.
Pratham works towards delivering quality education to millions of underprivileged children across India. The Pratham team comprises a varied mix of professionals from different fields who bring their experiences to the organization, but are unified by the shared vision of improving the future of our children.
Annamrita Mid day meal programme: To fight the problems of hunger and illiteracy, the Government of India launched the Midday Meal Scheme in 1994. The Mid Day Meal initiative was taken up by ISKCON Food Relief Foundation (IFRF) in 2005 and since then has seen stupendous growth. Currently IFRF’s Annamrita project reaches wholesome khichdi to over 9 lakh children to feed and keep them in school.
Piramal Prize: The Piramal Prize was developed in partnership with IIM Ahmedabad and is awarded to emerging ventures and established organizations. This prize promotes high-impact yet sustainable ideas on the healthcare front.
Directorship – Present:
• Chairman of the board of Directors of Piramal Healthcare Limited, Piramal Life Sciences Limited, Piramal Glass Ltd., Allergan India Limited, Indiareit Fund Advisors Pvt Ltd., IndiaVenture Advisors Pvt Ltd.
• Chairman of the Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Technology, Indore.
• Member, Board of Dean’s Advisors, Harvard Business School (HBS), Boston.
• Chairman of Pratham India, which is the largest non -governmental organization in the education sector, and reaches out to 33 million children through its “Read India” campaign.
Positions held in the past:
• Member, Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Task Force on Pharmaceuticals & Knowledge-Based Industries constituted by the Government of India.
• Member, Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Council for Trade & Industry.
• Member, Board of Trade Constituted by the Ministry of Commerce.
• Member, Central Board of Directors of State Bank of India – India’s largest commercial bank and is included in the “Fortune 500” companies;
• Mr. Piramal has been attending the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland) by invitation over the last one decade. He was a Member of the World Economic Forum’s Governors’ Forum on Healthcare. He has often addressed at the WEF on various topics.
• Member of National Council of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), which is one of the largest industry associations in India.
• Former Chairman of the Drugs and Pharmaceutical Council of CII. (2004 to 2009)
• Spokesperson of ‘Help Your Body’, a nationwide pub¬lic health campaign against chronic disease, launched by former President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, in August 2008.
Awards Received:
Awarded “Entrepreneur of the Year” Award of UK Trade & Investment Council (2006)
• Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year (2004) in the Healthcare & Life Sciences category
• “CEO of the Year Award” by World Strategy Forum in 1999;
• Rotary International “Four Way Test Award” in 2001.
• Life Time Achievement Award by the Rotary club of Mumbai Mid – Town (2004)
• “India Innovator of the Year 2008” Award by CNBC TV 18
• Kriyasheel global achievers award in 2010.
Academics:
Born in 1955, Mr Ajay Piramal did his B. Sc (Hons) from Bombay University (1975). He completed his Master in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (Class of 1977); and also did an Advanced Management Programme from Harvard Business School (1992).
Interests:
In his spare time Mr Ajay Piramal likes indulge in his passion for wildlife photography. He has also co-authored ‘Light has come to me’, a book about management lessons inspired from The Bhagwad Gita, published by the Times Group.
Personal:
Mr. Piramal is married to Dr. Swati Piramal, leading industrialist and scientist. She was the first woman President in 90 years to head the apex chamber of Commerce ASSOCHAM in 2009 – 10. Her contributions in innovations in Public Health Services and projects have touched thousands of lives. Their daughter Nandini, who studied business management at the highly acclaimed Stanford GSB is an Executive Director with Piramal Healthcare. After completing his MBA from the prestigious Harvard Business School, their son Anand, is spearheading Piramal Realty, the groups real estate venture.