Addressing company shareholders here today, Singh said the company's president, D S Brar would take over as MD & CEO on October 1. On his stepping down as MD, Singh said 17 years as CEO of a company is a long tenure. ``A person tends to get stale. My health has also not been very good for quite some time. Let somebody else who is younger, whose thinking is different lead the company for the next 15-20 years,'' he said.

Reacting to shareholders apprehensions, Singh said that ``returns could not be ensured in 12-18 months of operations and even the MNCs operating in India were of the view that returns could start pouring in only after 7-8 years.'' One has to ``create brand equity and stabilise'' to reachbreak-even point and then to gradually make profits.

He asked shareholders to give the company at least five year's time and if the subsidiaries fail to make profits even after that then there was certainly something amiss.

``Overseas operations and subsidiaries were there to serve long-term interests of the company'' and it was not the perspective of the company to ``live for year to year'' basis, he said. The ``perspective of Ranbaxy was sustained growth,'' he observed. He informed that many subsidiaries had reached the break-even point and by year 2000 others would reach this level and then these may start making profits. About US operations, he said that by year 2003, the size of operations would be between $100 million and $120 million. More products were being registered.

Singh said that he was ``quite bullish'' about Chinese operations, but agreed that only a limited range of products had been introduced in China.

About Russian market, he observed that ``there was no light at the end of the dayeven today.'' He said that company would, however, not withdraw from Russia. The idea was neither to withdraw from Russia nor to go in for reckless expansion but to ``keep Ranbaxy's presence in Russia.'' He hoped that in the long-term, when the whole climate stabilises, Russia would be a good market and then the company could attain ``full speed'' in operations.

Allaying fears of investors on Rs 330 crore in subsidiaries, Dr.Parvinder Singh observed that "returns were not very poor" and once brand equity was created and operations stabilised, in 2-3 years most of these subsidiaries would achieve a break even point and then register profits. The very perspective of Ranbaxy was "long-term" and not to "live for year to year. Singh said Ranbaxy faces three major challenges on which the company's future will depend - the results of its research and development initiatives; business related challenges since the company has entered into overseas markets such as USA, UK, China, Russia and is now looking at Braziland France; human resource development for integration of employees of the company which come from different cultures so that they think alike.

Singh said the financial performance of the company would improve in the current financial year ending December, 1999. ``There has been a recovery in the second quarter,'' he said. Singh said turnover and net profit should be better this year.

On reports of talks with some foreign pharma companies for sale of his stake, Singh said: ``It has been pure media speculation. Why should I comment on speculation.''

Singh said he would continue to remain deeply involved in strategy, policy and discovery of new drugs in his capacity as chairman. He would also focus on insurance and hospital projects. Fortis Healthcare, a closely held company of Singh, is setting up a hospital at Mohali in Punjab in collaboration with IL&FS.