Lupin founder Desh Bandhu Gupta’s biography launched in Mumbai

New Delhi: Made in India, written by Sundeep Khanna and Manish Sabharwal, traces three remarkable journeys: the rise of India’s pharma industry, the birth and evolution of Lupin and the extraordinary life of its founder, Desh Bandhu Gupta.

Together, the three journeys illuminate how a country once completely dependent on imported medicines became the world’s pharmacy. The book shares how an individual’s life, shaped early by adversity, growing up without privilege or patronage, unpredictably nurtured hunger and drive, to navigate an unforgiving state, blend national health priorities and global standards, to build a multibillion-dollar enterprise whose medicines reach patients in over 120 countries.

Made in India shows the distance travelled by a village boy from Rajasthan, who went on to become a teacher, professor and pharmaceutical employee, before founding a company worth $10 billion. It is the story of how an unlikely entrepreneur, given his role models, fought the system and left teaching and pharma jobs, going on to build a successful company, giving wings to a world-class industry and became a business icon for a nation.

Written with candor by TeamLease Services co-founder Manish Sabharwal and journalist Sundeep Khanna, the book confronts failures, financial crises, and the personal toll of leadership, alongside achievement and success, in the building of one of the world’s biggest generics firms. This is a riveting portrait of entrepreneurship without mythmaking – of how institutions are built slowly, tested severely and rebuilt with resolve. Made in India weaves vivid anecdotes tracing Desh Bandhu Gupta’s transformation from a humble professor to a pharma titan, finding his true calling in tending to the unmet needs of people. It issues a powerful call to future leaders, showcasing his journey of visionary entrepreneurship: rising from setbacks with raw grit and unshakeable conviction.

Made in India also spotlights Desh Bandhu Gupta’s wife Manju Gupta’s pivotal role amid the trials and triumphs of building Lupin. Together, the couple also built community service and rural support programs, even as Lupin and India became a reliable global supplier of pharmaceuticals.

India has today become the world’s pharmacy: Nearly half of the 400 billion pills Americans consume every year are made in India, as are 60 per cent of the world’s vaccines. Of the 700 US Food and Drug Administration-approved factories that sell medicines in the US, a third are located in India. The co- creators of Indian pharma – Dr. Yusuf Hamied (Cipla), Anji Reddy (Dr. Reddy’s), Parvinder Singh (Ranbaxy), Dilip Shanghvi (Sun), Ramanbhai Patel (Zydus-Cadila), Habil Khorakiwala (Wockhardt) and DBG (Lupin) – matter more to India than their companies’ revenues, exports or profits because they saw something no one else did. Together, they raised India’s soft and hard power, demolished the myth that multinationals possess unfair advantages over Indian companies, and ended pessimism

about India’s ability to export goods, making pharma India’s biggest manufacturing success. Together, they showed the world that a developing nation can dominate a complex industry when brilliant entrepreneurs meet smart policy. Together, they made India ‘Pharmacy to the world’.

Made in India came alive during the launch as the authors, and the publisher shared their journeys, followed by a rich and engaging panel discussion on “Past and Future of Indian Pharma” with pharma leaders Dilip Shanghvi, Sun Pharma, Dr. Yusuf Hamied, Cipla, G.V. Prasad, Dr. Reddy’s, Vinita Gupta, Lupin, and Prof. M. M. Sharma, Ex-(UDCT) ICT. The panel discussed insights on leadership, nation- building, and the Indian pharma industry’s crucial role in making healthcare affordable and accessible globally.

Praise for the book:

Dilip Sanghvi of Sun Pharma said, “DBG was a visionary whose heart beat for India and for Indian patients. His relentless focus on excellence defined his personality. He was a remarkable role model for all of us and one of the true architects who helped shape India’s journey to becoming the pharmacy to the world”.

Yusuf Hamied of Cipla said, “DBG built Lupin from extremely modest beginnings, guided by determination and a deep commitment to serving patients. DBG’s life story is not only inspiring, but also a reminder of how one individuals purpose can make healthcare accessible and affordable across the world”.