The Hindu Business Line : Milestones achieved, so I am leaving, says Ranbaxy's Brar

THE decision of Ranbaxy's Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mr D.S. Brar, not to renew his contract when it expires in July 2004 had sparked off in pharma circles talk that ranged from calculated guesses to wild allegations. But the outgoing CEO and MD on Thursday sought to put a lid on all the wild talk by putting a fix on the timing on his decision.

"I have been expressing my interest to leave for about five years now. But what precipitated the decision is that the company has achieved most of its milestones. The $1-billion mark will be achieved in 2004, we have rolled out the Garuda vision for our employees, we have achieved our place among the top 10 generic pharma companies in the world and a new path has been laid and systems have been put in place to achieve future goals - in that sense 2003 has been a great year," Mr Brar told Business Line.

Further, he said, "it is a rather uneventful development in that it is part of a succession plan and the transition will be smooth." He, however, said that "nothing was decided" on whether he would continue to be on the board after his term expires. "The final linkages have not been worked out." He remained tight-lipped on his future course of action, post his contract coming to an end, stating that he was "undecided".

He rubbished market speculation of financial irregularities and said that the company was US-GAAP compliant and that there was absolutely no truth in it.

Meanwhile, Mr Tejendra Khanna, Ranbaxy's Chairman, told the correspondent that former chairman, late Parvinder Singh, was not of the view that his sons would have an automatic induction on the board. "He had said that their work should merit it. The suggestion to designate Dr Brian Tempest as the next CEO and MD and Mr Malvinder Singh to take his (Dr Tempest's) place came from Mr Brar himself. The board accepted the decision as it was well-reasoned."

Commenting on the timing, he said, "Over a period of time, Mr Brar has been indicating that he wanted to do something stand-alone. And given that his term was coming to an end, the board had to take a view on a credible arrangement in good time." On whether there was a succession plan to get Mr Shivinder Singh, the younger son of Dr Parvinder Singh, on the board, he said : "Shivinder has not been associated with Ranbaxy and has been more involved with running his father's other dream for quality care hospitals."

Mr Khanna said that Mr Brar had taken the board into confidence and was leaving on an amicable note. Further, he added that he was "not aware" of any rift between the promoter family and the professional at the helm, on any count.

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