Chairman of Rs 1,100-crore Torrent Group U N Mehta, who quit the job of a medical representative in 1958 bearing a personal debt of Rs 10,000, today aims at taking his group's turnover to Rs 10,000 crore by 2000.

For Mehta, who was presented with the first Businessman of the Year award instituted by Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, the motto has been - missing the target is forgivable, aiming low is unforgivable.

In an exclusive interview with The Financial Express, he recalls how difficult life was even after 13 years of service with an MNC and four mouths to feed when he took his lifetime decision.

He started by marketing a rheumatic medicine manufactured by a third party and setting up Trinity laboratories here. Later, he produced a single drug, Trinicalm Plus, for psychiatric disorders. The group has now become a household word, having 668 registrations for export to 33 countries.

On personal front, he faced major problems. He developed chronic amoebic dysentery, went back to his native village near Palanpur, was diagnosed to be suffering from cancer of lymph nodes in 1977. He went to treatment for Los Angeles, came back to India two years later `fully cured',but was advised to live in a sterile environment.

The flagship company of the Group, Torrent Pharamceuticals, was presented the President's award for the highest pharmaceuticals export of Rs 157 crores in 1991-92. Simultaneously, he diversified to energy and finance - the other two ingredients - to capture market leadership position.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals, which was ranked 83rd ORG for a turnover of Rs 15 crore in 1983, is now one of the top eight pharmaceutical firms of India, Torrent Gujarat Biotech is the largest producer of Penicillin G in the country.

Gujarat Torrent Energy Corporation was founded in the private sector in association with Siemens AG (Germany), PowerGen Plc (UK) and GPCL, setting up a 655 mw gas-based power plant at Gandhar near Broach in Gujarat at a cost of Rs 2,455 crore. The group later joined hands with $2.9 billion MNC Corporation to form Torrent Power.

Its set up Gujarat Lease Financing Ltd, which is now among the country's top five non-banking finance companies with a total asset base of Rs 1,100 crore.As to what has been the secret of Torrent Group's steep upward curve, he says, "promoting fair business practices by professionals groomed to such fair practices."

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.