Ranjit Shahani, Chief Executive Officer, Healthcare, Novartis India Limited, has taken charge as President of Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) effective November 22, 2001. Shahani is a graduate of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and MBA from Bombay University. After a career with ICI India Ltd, he had spent a few years with ICI/Zeneca in United Kingdom, overseeing their Asia Pacific and Latin American operations in their Petrochemicals and Plastic Division. This was followed by a period as CEO at Roche Products Ltd., India. He then moved to Novartis India Limited in 1997.

Shahani has been vice president of OPPI and is chairman of its Industrial Policy & Legal Committee. He is OPPI's representative and member of the Council of International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations (IFPMA), Geneva. He has his own prescription of life. The philosophy is to bring good health to the company he leads. He is actually a technocrat, but built his career in the chemicals and pharmaceuticals industry. The man who has served across a number of global drug majors during the course of his career, Ranjit Shahani was just what the doctor ordered for overseeing Novartis' operations in India. Shahani earned his engineering degree from the IIT, Kanpur and holds an MBA from the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai.

He worked in ICI/Zeneca in India and UK for a long time. In UK, he looked after the company's Asia-Pacific and Latin American operations. After this, he joined Roche products as its CEO. Subsequently, Shahani joined Novartis India following the worldwide merger of Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy to create Novartis. At present, he is vice-chairman and managing director of Novartis India. In the new patent regime, Shahani will have to play a crucial role in the drug MNC's fortunes in India. He remains optimistic. "The WTO regime will impact pharma multinationals operating in India in a positive way. New R&D products will be launched in India ensuring the drug discoverer's original standards and quality. Increased FDI and expansion of business will take place.

There will be an assured inflow of the latest and best international technology. Indian companies will see a significant increase in co-licensing opportunities," he once said. Not only Novartis, the entire pharmaceutical industry in the country has great faith in him. He is the president of the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI). The OPPI, established in 1965, is a premier organisation of pharmaceutical manufacturers in India. It represents primarily research-based companies in India. Shahani also represents India on the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations (IFPMA), Geneva. To take the stress out of his busy work schedule, he plays tennis and listens to Indian and Western classical music.

He describes his philosophy in life: " I believe that the twenties in a person's life are for learning; the thirties for earning; the forties for consolidation; and the fifties for giving. I am in the giving phase now, and I would like to do it as unobtrusively as possible - which I do attempt." For Shahani, it is not always profits that count. He strongly believes in corporate social responsibility. The HIV/AIDS menace in the country concerns him deeply and in both his capacities - as Novartis India head and OPPI president - he taking the challenge head-on. "I take immense satisfaction from the fact that I have been able to give back to society as much as I have received from it in my earlier years," he says.