Pankaj Patel

Pankaj Ramanbhai Patel (born 1951) is an Indian businessman, the chairman and managing director of Cadila Healthcare, the fifth largest pharmaceutical company in India. Patel was tied for 26th place on Forbes magazine's first annual list of the 40 richest Indians (2004) with an estimated net worth of $510 million. He brings with him over 35 years of professional experience and spearheads the affairs of Zydus Cadila.

In 2017, he became the president of FICCI He is the Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, IISER, Kolkata; a Member of the Board of Governors and also the Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; Member Governing Board of The Ahmedabad University, Chairman of School of Life Sciences, Ahmedabad University; Member of the Board of Management of the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies and Executive Chairman, Vice President and Trustee of the Gujarat Cancer Society and Chairman of the Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute.

Patel was named the "Best Pharma Man of the year 2003" by the Foundation of Indian Industry and Economists in recognition of the growth of Cadila under his leadership. At that time, Patel predicted that Zydus Cadila would become the third-largest pharmaceutical company in India by 2005. However, the company's fortunes were reversed and Patel fell out of the list of richest Indians by 2005.

He is also the chairman of Zydus Hospitals, a large chain of hospitals in Gujarat.

Patel holds Bachelor of Pharmacy and Master of Pharmacy degrees from Gujarat University, as well as a BA in Science and Law from the University of Mumbai. He is married to Priti Patel, a daughter of Dr B D Patel. The couple have two children, Dr Sharvil and Shivani. His son Dr Sharvil Patel is deputy managing director of Cadila Healthcare Ltd and is married to Meha. Pankaj Patel's daughter Shivani is married to Pranav D Patel, a son of Dushyant D Patel.

In August 2012, Patel, along with Dinesh Patel, the chairman of Sintex Industries, purchased a Challenger-604 jet.