THE NEXT FRONTIER

AFTER PATIENT NURTURING OVER TWO DECADES, RELIANCE LIFE SCIENCES IS INVESTING IN A NEW PLANT AND LOOKING TO ENTER NEW SEGMENTS. THE BIOTECHNOLOGY PLAYER COULD WELL BE THE NEXT BIG THING FROM THE RELIANCE STABLE

- KRISHNA GOPALAN

IT'S A SCORCHING April afternoon in Dindori, about 45 minutes by road from Nashik. To make matters worse, we are outdoors at a dusty construction site. But the heat and dust don't seem to bother the project teams that are focussed only on their deadlines.

That's because the teams have their task cut out. In barely a year, this place is set to become unrecognisable as the first phase of the fully integrated second manufacturing campus of Reliance Life Sciences (RLS)-the biotechnology firm fully owned by investment companies of Mukesh Ambani-is expected to be ready. Eventually, the project teams' efforts are set to transform this undulating, rocky terrain into a picturesque location, with a lake to top it off.

"Yes, it is an aggressive timeline and we are on track so far," says the company's President K.V. Subramaniam, as he takes us to an air-conditioned cabin (the ones you typically see at sites like these), providing us relief from the heat. The cabin offers a full view of the 160-acre campus housed in Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) territory, in an area that is already a thriving business base for many marquee names of India Inc.

Though the typical Reliance scale is evident, unlike with some of its illustrious sister concerns, here it is also mixed with caution-to paraphrase a Chinese proverb, this is a firm that is looking to cross the river by feeling for the stones.

Incorporated in 2001, it has patiently nurtured its research and manufacturing capacity to become an end-to-end player, diversified its presence across segments, and now boasts of a portfolio of 43 products, and a workforce of 1,300. Thanks to this, it has outgrown its current 20-acre campus in Navi Mumbai, necessitating the Dindori project, for which it has earmarked ₹4,400 crore-half of that amount is set to be utilised in the first phase.