He received the award for his unparalleled achievements in the field of business as well as philanthropy
Purushottam Agrawal, Chairman, Gencrest and Founder, Ajanta Pharma has received Jeevan Gaurav Navratna Sammaan by Maharashtra Rajya Agrawal Sammelan for his unparalleled achievements in the field of business as well as philanthropy.
Coming from a very humble background in a small remote village in the state of Maharashtra, his entrepreneurial journey started with a borrowed capital of Rs 10,000 in 1973. His efforts turned a small repacking unit in a garage in Aurangabad into a pharmaceutical empire. Ajanta Pharma operates in 45 countries, which includes the US, Europe, Asia and most of the least developed countries in African continent. The company, today, has a market capitalisation of over Rs 13,000 crore and employee strength of around 8,000 across the globe. His astute business acumen has resulted in introducing several revolutionary first to the market products in India.
Agrawal has also been honoured with several state awards, national awards and an international award. Recently, he was also presented with the ‘Pharma Life Time Achievement’ award by Pharmexcil, Government of India.
Agrawal strives to serve through Samta Foundation. It aims at bringing social reform (Educate, Empower andnd Enable) with respect to healthcare, education and women’s empowerment. Today, Samta Foundation operates across the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, MP and Chhattisgarh.
Samta Foundation has funded more than 300,000 cataract surgeries in last five years and is aiming to do an additional 100,000 from coming year. It has also organised 5500 free and safe family planning operations in tribal district of Palghar.