Nirma's tryst with the pharmaceutical space started in 2006 when it acquired the ailing Core Healthcare in a deal reported to be worth Rs 300 crore. The Ahmedabad-based manufacturer of intravenous fluids was subsequently renamed Nirlife. Pharma industry insiders say Nirma, which broke open the detergent market in the 1990s with low prices and massive advertising, tried an encore of the low-price strategy in pharma, but with mixed results.
Many see Nirma's Lafarge deal as some kind of second coming for the Patels.
The mascot has gone off air now, but not before helping the Gujarat-based detergent brand script the perfect win for an underdog in the eighties.