Transforming Sun Pharma into a truly global pharma company
This edition also carries Nachiket Kelkar’s deep dive on the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, or GIFT City, which is taking shape as a cross-border finance hub.
- May 13, 2026,
- Updated May 13, 2026 7:24 PM IST
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries’ big purchase of US-based Organon is the kind of overseas acquisition that several other Indian groups have pursued in the past. Founder Dilip Shanghvi has made what is clearly the biggest transaction in his company’s history, one that he hopes would make Sun shine even brighter in the global big pharma league.
That is why this issue’s cover package looks closely at the deal. As Neetu Chandra Sharma writes, the acquisition, which comes with significant debt, could transform Sun Pharma from India’s largest drugmaker into a truly global pharma company with a presence across 150 countries.
The deal may change Sun Pharma’s future, but it will also test its execution skills in ramping up Organon’s business growth and managing the challenges of integrating a large international company. So, what may have pushed Shanghvi to place this bet? Soma Das, author of The Reluctant Billionaire, writes about the man behind the move. She calls him “anti-famous”, a fitting description for a promoter who has rarely chased the spotlight. As Das writes, in the age of instant gratification, he has shown what a marathon approach can achieve, growing seed capital of Rs 20,000 into a company with a market capitalisation of Rs 4.4 lakh crore in four and a half decades.
This edition also carries Nachiket Kelkar’s deep dive on the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, or GIFT City, which is taking shape as a cross-border finance hub. Its strengths are clear: a unified regulator, tax holidays, no securities or commodities transaction tax, indirect tax exemptions for offshore services, and easier foreign-currency transactions. Efforts have been made to overcome policy hurdles and even lifestyle restrictions, like on alcohol consumption, have been eased further. Yet, while GIFT City offers lower costs compared to other international finance centres and direct, regulated access to the Indian market, it still has a long way to go to match Dubai or Singapore.
Elsewhere, Jyotindra Dubey writes on the Indian Premier League (IPL) and its influence that now extends far beyond cricket. The IPL generates over $1.5 billion in annual revenue and had over 1.1 billion viewers last year. Owners are expanding globally, buying stakes in teams across leagues in South Africa, the UAE, the US, the Caribbean, and England. Institutional investment and private equity money is flowing in, showing that IPL teams may no longer be vanity purchases of tycoons, but serious, cash-flow-driven investments with scarcity value and long-term upside.
Finally, Richa Sharma reports on India’s nuclear milestone: the Kalpakkam prototype fast breeder reactor reaching criticality last month.
Why is this significant?
The reactor produces more fuel than it consumes by converting uranium-238 into plutonium. This is the second of India’s three-stage nuclear power programme. It could eventually help the country use its thorium reserves, the world’s largest, a strategic achievement for a nation that still imports about 70% of its uranium.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries’ big purchase of US-based Organon is the kind of overseas acquisition that several other Indian groups have pursued in the past. Founder Dilip Shanghvi has made what is clearly the biggest transaction in his company’s history, one that he hopes would make Sun shine even brighter in the global big pharma league.
That is why this issue’s cover package looks closely at the deal. As Neetu Chandra Sharma writes, the acquisition, which comes with significant debt, could transform Sun Pharma from India’s largest drugmaker into a truly global pharma company with a presence across 150 countries.
The deal may change Sun Pharma’s future, but it will also test its execution skills in ramping up Organon’s business growth and managing the challenges of integrating a large international company. So, what may have pushed Shanghvi to place this bet? Soma Das, author of The Reluctant Billionaire, writes about the man behind the move. She calls him “anti-famous”, a fitting description for a promoter who has rarely chased the spotlight. As Das writes, in the age of instant gratification, he has shown what a marathon approach can achieve, growing seed capital of Rs 20,000 into a company with a market capitalisation of Rs 4.4 lakh crore in four and a half decades.
This edition also carries Nachiket Kelkar’s deep dive on the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, or GIFT City, which is taking shape as a cross-border finance hub. Its strengths are clear: a unified regulator, tax holidays, no securities or commodities transaction tax, indirect tax exemptions for offshore services, and easier foreign-currency transactions. Efforts have been made to overcome policy hurdles and even lifestyle restrictions, like on alcohol consumption, have been eased further. Yet, while GIFT City offers lower costs compared to other international finance centres and direct, regulated access to the Indian market, it still has a long way to go to match Dubai or Singapore.
Elsewhere, Jyotindra Dubey writes on the Indian Premier League (IPL) and its influence that now extends far beyond cricket. The IPL generates over $1.5 billion in annual revenue and had over 1.1 billion viewers last year. Owners are expanding globally, buying stakes in teams across leagues in South Africa, the UAE, the US, the Caribbean, and England. Institutional investment and private equity money is flowing in, showing that IPL teams may no longer be vanity purchases of tycoons, but serious, cash-flow-driven investments with scarcity value and long-term upside.
Finally, Richa Sharma reports on India’s nuclear milestone: the Kalpakkam prototype fast breeder reactor reaching criticality last month.
Why is this significant?
The reactor produces more fuel than it consumes by converting uranium-238 into plutonium. This is the second of India’s three-stage nuclear power programme. It could eventually help the country use its thorium reserves, the world’s largest, a strategic achievement for a nation that still imports about 70% of its uranium.