The Bangalore Turf Club on Sunday felicitated Cyrus S. Poonawalla on being awarded the Padma Bhushan for his distinguished service in trade and industry.
In a simple ceremony, Turf Authorities of India and BTC chairman Uday Eswaran and the BTC committee paid tribute to the man who has been called the ‘Vaccine King of India’ with a heart of gold.
Dr. Poonawalla’s close association with horse racing must have kindled the spark in him to take chances and grab the initiative at the right moment. He took that chance in 1966 to set up the Serum Institute of India on a budget of just $12,000. Today it’s a $12 billion company.
Dr. Poonawalla, while acknowledging the honour, said his vision was to make vaccines that would be affordable and available to people all over the world. That vision has not faltered and continues to this day.
