Indications are that Mr Malvinder Mohan Singh is taking charge as interim head of Ranbaxy's UK operations following the exit of current managing director Mr Anil Sharma. Both Mr Singh and Mr Sharma could not be reached for a statement. Ranbaxy Labs' official spokesperson declined to comment on the issue.

The Financial Express had, in September last year, reported the elevation of Mr Singh as functional director, which means he was still not be on the board of directors. Mr Singh was to look after international operations, with responsibilities covering existing joint ventures, new tie-ups both in the global and domestic market, etc.

Mr Singh was also to continue looking after the hospital project at Mohali promoted by the family through another group company Fortis Healthcare and certain initiatives in the IT sector. Ranbaxy UK, which is ranked among the top 10 players in the British generics market, has a series of supply agreements and strategic tie-ups. The UK subsidiary has a strategic tie-up with SmithKline Beecham, now merged with Glaxo Wellcome, for co-amoxyclav and another with Eli Lilly for cefaclor MR and fluoxetine formulations. The company has also reaped the benefits of backward integration through a restructuring process, which in turn played a key role in the development of its manufacturing entity, Ranbaxy Ireland.