First offices: How Amul, Marico, Emami, and other conglomerates started out

Zydus Cadila
Ramanbhai Patel (right) had set up Cadila Laboratories in 1952 with his friend Indravadan Modi. In 1995, there was a demerger of the company, and the Patels got Cadila Healthcare. After a restructuring of operations, Zydus Cadila came into being and functioned out of an office in Ghodasar in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It is where Pankaj Patel (left), who is chairman of the group, was groomed by the senior Patel and founding chairman. “One thing I learnt from him was getting into the deep details of things and do a thorough study of anything, be it a problem or a research issue and understanding what the problem is. That’s what I learnt from him: Perfection. The second thing was valuing people.”
—Naini Thaker