NAME: DILIP SHANGHVI AGE: 49 years DESIGNATION: Chairman & MD GROUP: Sun Pharmaceuticals

It has been an incredibly busy period for Sun Pharma, and the company's Chairman & Managing Director, Dilip Shanghvi, is the first to admit that. The reason: a spate of acquisitions over the last few months. He has bought out Valeant Pharma's bulk drugs and formulation plant in Hungary and its formulation plant in the US. And in the last week of November, he placed a $23.15-million (Rs 104.18-crore) bid to buy the assets of the us-based Able Labs. Says Shanghvi, who prefers to keep a low profile: "We want to become more international in our approach, and over the next 10 years, we want to bring a host of innovative patented products to the market." Sun Pharma, which went public in 1994, closed 2004-05 with a topline of Rs 1,307 crore and a net profit of Rs 327 crore. The corresponding figures for the first half of this fiscal are Rs 917.4 crore and Rs 239.35 crore, respectively. The company's goal: consistently focus on specialty products and innovation to fulfill unmet patient needs. Shanghvi's leadership style is based on empowerment. "I always focus on growing talent within the company and I think it is important to share the credit for good work. We may not have too many heroes in our company but we certainly have people who work very well together," he says. His punch line: "I am comfortable with people who make mistakes so long as they can learn from them." Every successful organisation has a robust leadership and Shanghvi says his most important job is to ensure that his team is made up of good players. "My mantra is to focus on the people who have the ability to learn," he says. Clearly, he's doing a good job of it. No wonder, he's been a regular on the Forbes list of billionaires for some years now; his stake in his flagship is worth more than $2 billion (Rs 9,000 crore). The B. Com graduate from Kolkata's St Xavier's College has sure come a long way.