With loan from his father started manufacturing psychiatric drugs in 1983. His Sun Pharmaceuticals has a stake in Caraco Pharmaceutical Labs, a U.S. generic drug company.

The company has concentrated in the specialty segment of neurology, cardiology, gastroenterology and diabetology. Over the years  Sun Pharmaceuticals has aggressively expanded its therapeutic presence through brand and company acquisitions. Shanghvi recently bought manufacturing facilities in the US and Hungry. Talking on the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry Dilip Shanghvi has some very interesting numbers. He often remarks that a country with a population of 1 billion has  a total pharmaceutical market of Rs 180 bilion. On the basis of this data the  per capita pharmaceutical consumption works out to barely  Rs 180 which is miniscule and rivals only thrid world countries like Bangladesh.

Talking of the future Dilip SHanghvi expects the industry to show consolidation both at   the company level as well as the brand level.