India Rich List 2017: The dropouts
Competition and industry woes led to these exits from the list in 2017


Mannalal Agrawal Ajanta Pharma LtdNo. 64 in 2016In the 12 months to September 2017, Ajanta Pharma’s share price almost halved to ₹1,134 apiece. The company’s net sales dropped from ₹490 crore in the December quarter last fiscal to ₹398 crore in the June quarter of FY18. This was a period when most Indian drug makers were reeling under scrutiny from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and pricing pressure in the US. Consequently, the company also saw its market capitalisation erode to $1.57 billion, impacting the wealth of its 70-year-old founder Mannalal Agrawal (whose net worth stood at $1.85 billion last year) and his brothers Purushottam and Madhusudan. The promoters hold close to 72 percent in the company. A turnaround could be round the corner, though, with the company launching new drugs in the US and obtaining clearance from the US FDA for new products.
Malvinder Singh & Shivinder SinghFortis HealthcareNo 92 in 2016For quite some time, things haven’t looked good for brothers Malvinder Singh, 44, and Shivinder Singh, 42, whose net worth last year stood at $1.38 billion. A dream run kick-started by the sale of Ranbaxy Laboratories to Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo in 2008 for $4.1 billion came to an abrupt end in 2012, when Daiichi filed a case with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre that accused the brothers of misrepresenting information about the US investigation into Ranbaxy. Last year, the court asked Malvinder and Shivinder to pay a fine of $390 million. Their other venture, Fortis Healthcare, isn’t in great shape either. The company’s revenue remained almost flat at ₹168 crore in the June quarter this fiscal, as against the year-ago period. In a big blow to the Singhs, the Supreme Court in September barred them from selling their stake in Fortis, following a petition by Daiichi. Meanwhile, Shivinder has given up his business responsibilities at Fortis to focus on community spiritual work at Radha Soami Satsang Beas, to which the family is linked.
PNC MenonSobha GroupNo 78 in 2016PNC Menon, 68, has been focusing on growing Sobha Group’s presence in the Middle East while the India business has been growing at a steady pace. Net sales in the June quarter stood at ₹637 crore as against ₹542 crore in the March quarter. Its shares have appreciated by 33 percent between September 2016 and September 2017. Some of its peers, however, outperformed Sobha. For instance, Oberoi Realty’s shares appreciated by 45 percent, Godrej Properties’ by about 79 percent and Prestige Estates Projects’ by about 42 percent during the same period, leaving Sobha behind at a market capitalisation of ₹4,206 crore and Menon out of the 2017 Forbes India Rich List.
The OthersAjay Kalsi (94 in 2016)Bhavin & Divyank Turakhia (95)Dilip & Anand Surana (96)Azad Moopen (97)
First Published: Nov 10, 2017, 07:43
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