Shivalik Rasayan is a turnaround story that became a two-engine chemical maker - it was bought out of sickness in 2002 and rebuilt into a profitable manufacturer of crop-protection chemicals, then deliberately used that cash flow to build a second leg in high-value pharmaceutical ingredients, all anchored by an in-house R&D centre that invents cheaper ways to make complex molecules. # Business segments Three engines at different stages - a legacy agrochemical cash cow, a pharma-ingredient platform built to regulated-market standards, and a shared R&D backbone that feeds both - each one funded by the one before. ## 1. Agrochemicals: the original engine that still pays the bills **It makes the active bug-killing ingredient inside crop sprays - mostly organophosphorus insecticides - and sells it in bulk to formulators who bottle the finished product.** - **India's top maker of two key insecticides** - it is the largest domestic producer of Dimethoate Technical and the second-largest of Malathion Technical, both organophosphorus compounds that formulators buy to create branded pesticides. - **A legacy plant running flat out** - its original Dehradun facility on 20 acres has a 1,450-metric-tonne annual capacity and historically operated above 95% utilisation, so the company needed more room to grow. - **A new Gujarat plant just switched on** - a greenfield site at Dahej-III began commercial production in September 2024, adding a 2,000 MTPA block for insecticides and fungicides and quadrupling Dimethoate capacity from 1,450 to 5,000 MTPA. - **Chasing the patent cliff** - roughly 22 pesticides lose patent protection by 2030, a US$ 4.1 billion opportunity, so the R&D team has already developed non-infringing processes for next-generation molecules like Chlorantraniliprole (CTPR) and Trifloxystrobin, with 34 product registrations submitted to India's pesticides regulator. - **Sells the waste, too** - hydrogen sulphide gas from its reactions is scrubbed with caustic lye to make Sodium Hydro Sulphide, a by-product that generates extra revenue rather than disposal costs. ## 2. Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients: the bet on regulated-market generics **It develops and manufactures the chemical building blocks of medicines - mostly cancer and specialty drugs - for formulators who sell finished pills in the US, Europe and beyond.** - **US FDA-approved API plant** - the Dahej-II API plant is a 50,000-square-metre facility with separate oncology and non-oncology blocks, designed to cGMP (current good manufacturing practice) norms and expandable by six more blocks. - **Regulatory approvals are the entry ticket** - it holds WHO-GMP certification for eight API products, six European CEPs (certificates of suitability) for molecules like Temozolomide and Busulfan, and received its first US FDA plant approval in October 2024 after an inspection. - **A pipeline of 20 molecules waiting to launch** - 20 oncology and non-oncology APIs are validated and ready for regulatory filing in regulated countries, with a US Drug Master File already submitted for Palbociclib. - **China access through a local partner** - five molecules are under registration in China, and a Chinese marketing firm holds the exclusive authorisation to sell its Busulfan API there, opening a market that is otherwise hard to penetrate alone. - **Also works as a hired gun** - under a CDMO (contract development and manufacturing) model, it has seven products under development for European customers and an exclusive manufacturing agreement with a US company, meaning it gets paid to develop and produce molecules others will sell. # R&D and process innovation **A 60-scientist lab in Bhiwadi invents non-infringing manufacturing routes for both businesses - the reason the company can enter crowded generic markets without getting sued and can make molecules cheaper than rivals who buy Chinese intermediates.** - **Government-recognised and well-equipped** - the 12,000-square-foot centre is DSIR-approved and houses advanced instruments like HPLC, LCMS and lyophilisers, with over Rs. 40 crore invested across two expansion phases since 2019. - **Import substitution is the explicit strategy** - the team has created 12 API products, 2 agrochemical molecules and 2 advanced intermediates as direct replacements for materials India previously had to buy from China, reducing both cost and supply-chain risk. - **Three disciplines under one roof** - Chemical R&D develops the API processes, Formulation R&D works on finished dosage forms like injectables and lyophilised powders, and Analytical R&D handles impurity profiling and method validation, so a molecule can go from idea to plant-ready without leaving the building. - **Technology already transferred to the factory** - as of mid-2023, the R&D centre had handed over manufacturing processes for eight APIs to the Dahej plant, turning lab-scale inventions into commercial batches. # Group structure and partners **The company sits inside a promoter-controlled ecosystem where its largest shareholder and its main associate both reinforce the pharmaceutical strategy.** - **Holding company is promoter-owned** - Growel Remedies Limited holds a 47.37% stake and is part of the promoter group, having increased its position through a preferential warrant allotment in 2021. - **Medicamen Biotech is the forward link** - SRL owns a 43.16% stake in this finished-dosage formulator, which it calls its pharmaceutical arm, creating a built-in customer for its APIs and a route to market for finished medicines. - **Shared board seats signal tight coordination** - several SRL directors also sit on Medicamen's board, so the API supplier and the dosage-form maker are operationally aligned rather than arm's-length. - **Global reach through partners** - beyond the China Chinopharma agreement for Busulfan, the company taps the existing international networks of Medicamen Biotech and Mission Pharma (a Toyota Group company from Japan) to find customers for its APIs.