Particularly for India, albeit the country having adequate seasons of sunshine, a substantial proportion of its population is Vitamin D deficient, making it a growing healthcare concern. Yet an increasing build up in nutrition awareness, food fortification and preventive healthcare is making opportunities and space for innovation as well as growth in this spectrum. These developments have caused Vitamin D3 to be positioned at the confluence of public health, policy, science and commerce.
The sector is witnessing a rapid thrust driven by biotechnological advancements, evolving consumer needs, sustainable manufacturing approaches and an increasing requirement for scientifically supported nutritional solutions. With growing investments in biotech the sector is posing as a significant contributor to economic growth, innovation and exports. With global eye seeking trusted manufacturing partners and resilient supply chains, India is making a steady rise establishing a key position as a reliable provider towards global nutrition and in the biotechnology sector.
At the forefront of this rapid emergence, is Prashant Nagre, Managing Director, Fermenta Biotech Limited, whose visionary leadership has greatly reinforced not only the company’s but India’s standing in the global Vitamin D3 and nutritional ingredient landscape. As Fermenta Biotech stretches its innovations, strategic investments and sustainability initiatives, it is sending a quiet and determined signal at the global stage and to consumers about India’s strength and mission to compete with the best.
In an exclusive one to one, we are delighted to share the insights of Mr. Nagre about the future of Vitamin D3, India’s growing importance in value chains globally, emerging opportunities in biotech, policy priorities and the leadership mindset to navigate a rapidly advancing business environment. His perspectives offer valuable learning and takeaways for sector professionals, investors, policy makers and industry heads wishing to understand the key factors shaping healthcare and nutrition in future.
1. Where do you see India’s biggest opportunity and challenges in the next phase of global life sciences growth, particularly in driving innovation across biotech and allied sectors?
India’s biggest opportunity in the next phase of global life sciences’ growth lies in its ability to develop solutions that combine scale, sustainability, and affordability. The world is facing a clear healthcare transition. As population ages and lifestyle related conditions increase, healthcare systems will come under greater pressure both clinically and economically. In this context the industry must make a conscious shift from treatment led models to prevention led approaches. The future of healthcare cannot only be about responding to disease after it occurs; it must also be about enabling better nutrition, early intervention, preventive health, and wider access to solutions that improve quality of life before challenges become more serious.
At the same time innovation cannot remain limited to high-end, unaffordable solutions. Cutting-edge science that is not accessible will increase challenges for patients, healthcare systems, and policymakers. Therefore, affordability must be central to India’s innovation agenda.
India’s advantage lies in its ability to combine scientific capability with cost –conscious execution, and that strength must be applied meaningfully across healthcare and allied sectors. The real opportunity is to create innovations that are not only technically advanced, but also practical, scalable, and relevant for large populations. If innovation remains limited to a small section of society, its impact will remain restricted. For India to lead the next phase of global life sciences growth, accessibility and sustainability must move together with scientific progress.
The next phase will also require Indian life sciences companies to mature institutionally. Many successful Indian companies have grown through founder-driven vision and entrepreneurship. The idea may begin at the founder level, but it takes a strong team, professional management, and institutional capability to bring that idea to life at scale. To compete globally, Indian companies will need stronger consolidation, professionalized operations, scientific depth and global execution standards. The opportunity is significant, but the industry must combine entrepreneurship with systems, governance and long term capability building.
2. As Fermenta celebrates 75 years and crosses INR 540 crores in revenue in FY26, what key strategic pillars have driven this expansion and transformed it from an Indian-focused company to a globally respected nutritional biotech lead?
Fermenta’s strategic focus is guided by three clear pillars: nutrition, green chemistry, and environmental solutions. These pillars have helped the company build a diversified yet focused business, with a strong commitment to science led growth and long-term value creation. Within nutrition, our focus has consistently remained on human nutrition and animal nutrition, with Vitamin D3 being a core area where we believe preventive health will continue to play an increasingly important role. This clarity of direction has allowed us to remain focused while continuously expanding our relevance across markets and applications.
At Fermenta we believe that sustainable and consistent growth can only be innovation led. Short-term growth may be possible without innovation, but long term leadership requires continuous investment in R & D, operational excellence, advanced technology, quality systems and people capability. More importantly, consistency in innovation is what makes growth a reproducible act, and not just a one-off victory or milestone. This approach has enabled Fermenta to build three subsidiaries, including two international ones, and has been an important part of our journey from an Indian focused company to one with a growing global presence.
Equally important has been our conviction in sustainability and the role of green chemistry. Green chemistry becomes truly meaningful when it is applied to high volume, everyday molecules used across industries. When cleaner processes reduce energy consumption, waste, or environmental impact at scale, the benefits are far reaching. Our environment solutions focus on water and wastewater treatment, aimed to improve water quality, support conservation, and adopt more responsible resource management practices.
This focus on sustainable technologies, innovation, and operational excellence has helped Fermenta evolve into a globally respected organization. As we look ahead, these pillars will continue to guide our growth and strengthen our ability to create long-term value for customers, communities, and the environment.
3. Fermenta leads in vitamin D3. How do you see this segment evolving with preventive health care and sustainable nutrition trends? What role is the industry playing in promoting awareness given widespread undiagnosed deficiency?
Vitamin D3 will continue to play an important role as healthcare shifts from treatment to prevention. In India, pharmaceutical companies, the medical fraternity, and the media have helped bring attention to the concerns linked to low Vitamin D status and the benefits of appropriate supplementation. This awareness is important because deficiency often remains undiagnosed, despite its relevance to bone health, muscle health, immunity, and overall well-being.
Fermenta has been present in the Vitamin D3 segment for over six decades and is today amongst the top three manufacturers of the ingredient globally. This position brings with it a responsibility that goes beyond manufacturing. Along with supplying high-quality Vitamin D3, we have participated in awareness-building efforts through public campaigns and stakeholder engagement, including initiatives such as “Vitamin D Ki Kami Toh Nahi?”
The next phase must focus on coordinated action. Industry, healthcare professionals, media, academic institutions, and government bodies need to work together to move the conversation from awareness to practical preventive interventions. Supplementation, responsible nutrition, and large-scale food fortification can play an important role in improving health outcomes, reducing the long-term burden on healthcare systems, and creating a positive economic impact for the nation.
Fermenta remains committed to this direction through good quality nutritional ingredients, premix solutions, and large-scale food fortification solutions.
4. How is the industry adapting its innovation and product strategy to meet rising global demands for plant-based, clean-level and sustainable nutraceutical ingredients?
Now, nutritional ingredients will need to meet three essential expectations: sustainability, scalability, and affordability. As global demand, the industry must innovate in a way that does not compromise on quality, consistency, regulatory compliance, or accessibility. Consumers are becoming more conscious of what goes into the products they consume, while companies are also looking for ingredients that can meet both performance and sustainability expectations.
At Fermenta, this thinking guided our journey to develop Vegan Vitamin D3. The starting material is derived from a non-food by-product, making it sustainable as it does not compete with food sources. This was an important consideration because sustainable nutrition must not create pressure on food supply chains. It also reflects the need for ingredient innovation to be responsible not only in its final application, but also in its origin, sourcing logic, and scalability.
At the same time, we wanted to create an ingredient made from a plant source, while meeting modern quality standards set across pharmacopoeias. Our focus has been to develop a plant-based Vitamin D3 that aligns with international pharmacopeial standards, multi-compendial requirements, and relevant global regulations. In that sense, it brings together the best of both worlds: plant-based origin and globally accepted quality standards.
For the industry, this is an important direction because sustainable products must also be practical for customers to adopt. They should be dependable, compliant, and suitable for scale across geographies and applications. This balance will define how plant-based nutrition moves from niche preference to mainstream, trusted, and science-led solutions for consumers, brands, and healthcare systems across global markets over time responsibly.
5. For new entrants and professionals entering biotech and nutrition sciences, what mindset and capabilities will define the next gen of industry leaders?
For young professionals entering biotech and nutrition sciences, the first mindset to develop is patience. Before overnight success, there is a decade of hard work. What the world sees as sudden success is usually built on years of learning, discipline, failures, persistence, and quiet effort. There are no shortcuts in such industries, especially where quality, safety, compliance, and long-term customer value are critical.
The next generation of industry leaders will need a combination of scientific curiosity, operational understanding, and a strong sense of responsibility. Knowledge alone will not be enough. Professionals must understand how science translates into scalable products, how manufacturing realities shape innovation, and how quality systems protect customers and consumers. They must be willing to build value-based solutions through a rugged, thoughtful, and problem-solving approach.
Equally important is the ability to remain calm and focused. A calm mind is a serious prerequisite for good decision-making, particularly in complex sectors like pharma, biotech and nutrition where decisions often involve regulation, customer expectations, and long-term business impact. Young professionals must also learn to work with teams across R&D, manufacturing, quality, regulatory, commercial, and supply chain functions, because meaningful solutions rarely come from one function alone.
In this industry, credibility is built slowly. It comes from doing the right things repeatedly, respecting processes, and learning from the shop floor as much as from textbooks. It also means accepting that some answers emerge only after experimentation and persistence. The future will belong to professionals who stay hungry to learn, remain humble in success, and do not get discouraged by difficult phases. Titles may come later, but the foundation must be built early.
6. Which government initiators have most positively impacted biotech manufacturing and what further reforms are needed to strengthen India's global competitiveness?
The government initiatives that have had the most positive impact are those that support industry-academia collaboration, skill development, manufacturing capacity, and innovation-led growth. For biotech manufacturing to strengthen its global competitiveness, India needs to ensure that scientific education is closely connected with practical industrial application. The sector requires researchers and scientists, along with those who understand manufacturing discipline, documentation, quality systems, regulatory expectations, safety practices, and process consistency.
In my view, apprenticeship-led training can play a very important role. Students coming out of colleges should have structured opportunities to work directly with industry, receive hands-on exposure, and gradually be absorbed into relevant roles. This will help create professionals who are well rounded academically and practically; being prepared for the realities of regulated manufacturing. In biotechnology and nutrition sciences, small deviations can have large implications; therefore, early exposure to plant operations, quality control, and validation, audits, compliance, and customer expectations is essential.
Academic institutions and industry should jointly design curricula, training modules, internships, and apprenticeship programs based on current and future industry trends and needs. Faculty exposure to industry and industry experts contributing to academic programs can also help make education more relevant. At the same time, easier access to pilot-scale facilities, common testing infrastructure, faster approvals, and support for technology scale-up can further strengthen India’s manufacturing ecosystem.
India already has strong scientific talent, entrepreneurial energy, and growing manufacturing capability. The opportunity now is to convert this into a globally trusted biotech manufacturing base. For that, reforms must focus on talent readiness, practical training, quality orientation, and faster industry participation. If India can build a workforce that combines scientific understanding with manufacturing discipline and compliance confidence, it will be better positioned to serve global markets with reliability, consistency, and long-term competitiveness.
7. What personal leadership mantras and decision-making approaches have helped you balance agility with long term sustainable growth?
For me, balancing agility with long-term sustainable growth begins with clarity of thought, consistency in action, and the ability to remain calm while making decisions. Agility is important in today’s business environment, but agility cannot mean reacting to every short-term pressure. Decisions must be timely, but they must also be anchored in the larger purpose of the organisation and the value we want to create over time.
I believe in empowering people. You cannot build an organisation only through authority or control. Leaders today need both IQ and EQ; the ability to understand business complexity, numbers, strategy, and technology, but also to understand people, their concerns, their motivations, and their challenges. Communication must be clear, repeated, and meaningful, so that teams understand not only what has to be done, but why it matters. When people understand the purpose behind a decision, execution becomes stronger and ownership becomes deeper.
Certain things are necessary for sustainable growth: trust, patience, operational understanding, strong teams, and the courage to stand by what one believes in. At the same time, some things are non-negotiable: ethics, governance, quality, customer commitment, and long-term value creation. These cannot be compromised for speed, convenience, or temporary gains.
I also believe trust is earned on the shopfloor before it is earned in the boardroom. Leaders must stay connected to people, customers, and operations. One must understand what is happening at the ground level, because that is where execution either succeeds or fails. If you feel strongly about something, you must have the conviction to stand by it and push for it responsibly. Sustainable growth comes from calm decision-making, disciplined execution, and teams that feel trusted and empowered to take ownership.
8. In your experience, what makes platforms like CPHI and India Health effective in enabling meaningful collaborations, joint initiatives and knowledge exchange across the ecosystem?
Platforms like CPHI and India Health are effective because they bring the life sciences and healthcare ecosystem together in a meaningful and focused way. They create a common space for manufacturers, customers, innovators, leaders and other stakeholders alike to exchange ideas, understand evolving priorities, and explore practical areas of collaboration. At the same time, they help us learn from global peers and understand where the industry is moving.
In today’s business environment, we have stopped hearing directly from customers; we only hear about them through filtered channels. That speaks volumes about disconnects that can develop between companies and the people or organizations they ultimately serve. What a customer wants most is often very simple: to be heard, understood, and responded to with sincerity. This is why platforms like CPHI matter so much.
I have attended such key exhibitions for nearly three decades, and being present on the shopfloor throughout the event gives direct insight into what is working, what is not working, and what customers are really expecting. Organizations are generally willing to act on feedback, but the insight itself must be correct and undistorted. When conversations are honest, customer-led, and action-oriented, such platforms can convert meetings into partnerships, joint initiatives, knowledge exchange, and long-term ecosystem progress.
This is where the larger value of such opportunities comes in. They remind the industry that growth cannot be built in isolation. Beyond creating visibility, platforms like these help companies reconnect with the real voice of the customer.