| Type | Invited lecture |
| Event | Government Policy, Growth & Internationalization: Indian Pharma |
| Organized by | Centre of Studies in Science Policy, JNU |
| Location | New Delhi, India |
| Date | February 14, 2007 |
| Slides | Download the presentation (PDF) |
An invited lecture delivered at the Centre of Studies in Science Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru University (February 14, 2007).
In short: How deliberate government policy shaped the rise of India’s pharmaceutical industry — and how, in the author’s analysis, acquisition proved a more effective route abroad than building from scratch.
About the lecture
This invited lecture traced India’s pharmaceutical industry from its dependent beginnings in the 1940s–50s to its emergence as a global competitor, with a focus on the role of government policy in driving growth and internationalisation. It set out the industry’s four-stage evolution, compared the two main routes abroad — greenfield versus acquisition — and illustrated the argument with the experience of Ranbaxy.
What the lecture covered
- Four stages of evolution — from MNC dominance (1947–1969), through the liberal process-patent era (1970–1989) and the rise of domestic firms (1990–1999), to accelerated internationalisation from 2000 onward.
- Two routes abroad compared — greenfield investment versus acquisition (brownfield), weighing the competitive advantages and limitations of each.
- The Ranbaxy case — its acquisitions of Ohm Laboratories (1995), Basics GmbH (2000), and the RPG Aventis business (2003) as illustrations of acquisition-led entry.
- The argument and its policy reading — that acquisition tended to be the more effective route, that government policy was central to the industry’s development, and that successful internationalisation needed supportive policy. (These conclusions are the author’s analysis, drawn from theory and the Ranbaxy case rather than a large-sample test.)
Get the slides
The full presentation is available as a PDF:
⇩ Download the presentation (PDF)
Related research on this site
This lecture draws on the author’s published work:
- From Local Players to Global Hunters: Should Indian Pharma Companies Buy or Build? — on acquisition vs greenfield (Pradhan & Alakshendra, ISID WP2006/07).
- From Copycats to Global Champions: The Journey of Indian Pharma — on the industry’s competitiveness (Pradhan, ISID WP2006/05).