Bhavesh Patel Managing director, Marck Biosciences

He’s already made his mark. But Bhavesh Patel, managing director of Marck Biosciences, doesn’t think he is extraordinary. “Average is how I would describe myself,” says he.

Look closer, however, and you will find there is nothing average about the work he does. Hearing the man describe his work, you are impressed by his humility and firm grounding in reality. For a minute you tend to forget the success and clout that Patel enjoys. For, he is the man with the Midas touch.

You couldn’t have forecast that in his childhood days. Patel was an ordinary student. He liked maths and geography, but not much else in academics. The other place he could show his skills was in sports and as an NCC cadet.

He was good in sports and, where others shied away from the heavy-duty drills, Patel participated and shone. His vacations, however, were spent in his uncle’s library, poring over huge tomes.

Patel did his schooling in a nondescript institution and then opted for a BE (mechanical) degree. After that he went on to pursue an MS in finance from the B.K. School of Management.

A finance whizkid, he quickly got into the groove of things and plunged headlong into the markets. “My parents were in the US and I wanted to migrate there but God had other plans,” he says with a laugh.

After a stint in merchant banking, Patel decided that he wanted to be in business. He quit his job — his safe zone — and went back to Ahmedabad. Once there, he surveyed the options.

He also travelled abroad extensively and studied different companies minutely. Says he: “I was interested in two or three areas, which included auto ancillaries and medical instruments.”

Patel had done a thorough study of different sectors and had come up with specific criteria for the industry he would enter.

“It had to be capital intensive, have sufficient scope for expansion and growth and be a generic product and not one which needed aggressive branding,” says he. Thus, Marck started its operations in 1997 near Kheda, Gujarat, with IV fluids and parenterals.

Marck is spread over 25 acres with a built-up area of around 19,000 square metres. It is capable of manufacturing large volume parenterals (LVP) and small volume parenterals (SVP).

The facilities are ISO-certified and cGMP (current good manufacturing practices) compliant. They meet the requirements of the regulatory authorities of countries such as the UK, Australia and groups like the EU.

But it wasn’t a smooth journey to the top. Patel had to face tremendous challenges to be where he is today. At the outset, he needed Rs 22 crore to set up the unit and the stock market was in bad shape. An IPO (initial public offer) wouldn’t have fared well. So Patel had to rely on personal finances (what he could cobble together from friends and family) and bank loans.

That hurdle was surmounted. But then came calamity. During the trial period of the plant, there were heavy rains. The manufacturing facility was partly submerged and there was considerable damage.

But Patel was made of sterner stuff and he trudged on. The setback created problems in obtaining the licence and the delayed production cost Rs 2 crore. But that too was weathered.

Today, Marck is not just into products. It does contract manufacturing for most of India’s top pharma companies. That gives it a security blanket in case the demand for its own products should witness a temporary slump. Besides, Marck also exports to more than 40 countries.

Marck is today expanding at 15-18 per cent per annum. Patel’s objectives have also changed over time. “From survival as an objective to being more competitive (by increasing output) to aggressive expansion and growth, we have come a long way,” says he.

Patel is a relaxed man now, for he’s done his bit. “I go to the gym and am learning classical music (vocal) now. I aim to be a Sangeet Bisharad within the next five years,” says he.

That will be a new kind of music for him — a new vein to tap.

Based on a conversation with Shibani Chattopadhyay in Calcutta