W hen Business Today carried a report in April last year about Piramal Group Chairman Ajay Piramal’s plans to create a $20 billion empire by 2020, many felt it was an aspirational, even aggressive, target. The reason for this scepticism was simple. In 2010, his net worth was estimated at $1 billion, and after selling the flagship drug formulations division of Piramal Healthcare to Abbott for $2.9 billion, the group was left with a small pharmaceutical business and a struggling glass business with revenues of nearly ₹2,000 crore. The listed Piramal Enterprises (then Piramal Healthcare) got just ₹15,000 crore after expenses and paying taxes. After buybacks and dividends (₹4,866 crore), Piramal decided to invest the rest in businesses with 20-30 per cent-plus profits and took three-four strategic decisions. One was investing…
