"Our goal is that in the next 24 months we want to registerour products in the developed world and we have started developing relationships with foreign companies," the privately held firm's managing director, Pankaj Patel, said in an interview.

He said Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila had built a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant conforming to the standards of the US Food and Drug Administration and other international bodies.

The company was in the process of getting its plant registered with health authorities in the United States and Europe, Patel said.

He said the company, which has a joint venture with Germany's Byk Gulden for exports, expected 25 per cent of its sales to come from its export business after five years compared with 10 per cent at present.

"We want tosell in the international market under our own brand," he added. Zydus Cadila earned a net profit of Rs 312.5 million ($7.184 million) on a sales turnover of Rs 4.34 billion in 1998-99 (April-March).

Sales from exports, mainly to the developing countries, were at Rs 354.6 million in the last financial year.

On long-term strategies, Patel said the company would be focusing on anti-gastrointestinal, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and cardiovascular products which had a huge market in the country.

The firm currently has a presence in bulk and herbal formulations, as well as cosmetics and veterinary products. Last year, Zydus Cadila entered into a joint venture with Korea Green Cross Company to manufacture and market hepatitis B vaccines in India.

Patel said he expected the company's growth rate toincrease considerably as a result of the firm's efforts. "I expect the growth rate to touch 25 per cent during the next five years."

Zydus Cadila registered growth of 18.5 per cent in 1998-99 (April-March)compared with 16.8 per cent in the country's entire pharmaceuticals industry.

The company, which has four manufacturing plants, also plans to invest Rs 2.5 billion in building new manufacturing facilities during the next five years. "We are setting up a new centre for research and development at the cost of Rs 650 million. It will become operational by the end of this calendar year," Patel said.

He said Zydus planned to spend 5 per cent of its turnover on research and development by 2005 compared with 1.5 per cent now.