Chairman of Ahmedabad based pharmaceutical major Zydus Lifesciences Limited (ZLL) Pankaj Patel has taken charge as the 14th Chairperson of the Indian Institute of Management (IIMA) Board of Governors last week.
Patel succeeds Kumar Mangalam Birla, the chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, whose four-year term ended on November 15, 2022. Patel spent eight years on the IIMA Board of Governors prior to being named Chairperson of the esteemed institute. “My appointment as a chairperson comes at an important juncture for the institute when it is at the cusp of the next phase of its growth. I am excited to be a part of this esteemed institute and look forward to working with the Board of Governors, faculty members, students, staff members, the alumni group, and all other relevant stakeholders. The Board envisages a robust growth for the IIMA and has outlined plans to lead the Institute in this direction,” said Patel after he was named as chairman of IIMA Board of Governors assuring to support and share his expertise to the six decades old institution.
Patel is also a part-time non-official director on the Reserve Bank of India's Central Board. He is on the IIM Udaipur Governing Board, Invest India, and the Union Health Ministry’s India Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) apart from being a member of the CEO Advisory Committee of International Generics and Biosimilars Association (IGBA). He is also a former president of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
Patel is a distinct and innovative kind of businessperson. His father Ramanbhai Patel was one of the founders of Cadila healthcare (presently Zydus Lifesciences) which is the largest pharmaceutical company of India. Patel and his son Sharvil Patel took the company into greater heights. Today, Zydus Cadila Healthcare have chains of hospital groups, research institutes and education centers. He is also believed to be the richest among Patel's in Gujarat with net worth of over $4.1 billion.
The company manufactures a sugar substitute named “Sugar Free”, Covid-19 vaccine, ZyCoV-D. It manufactures drugs to treat Covid-19 such as Remdesivir from Gilead.
IIMA was established in 1961 as a creative endeavour by the government, business, and international academia. It now has a presence in Dubai and a network of more than 80 top international universities. Its distinguished faculty and nearly 40,000 alumni, who hold leadership roles in a variety of fields, also contribute to its international renown.
