In the early 2000s, a young man from Chapra district in Bihar packed his bags after completing mechanical engineering in Moscow. While many of his batchmates looked toward Europe or returned home, Ashok Kumar Tiwary looked further east — toward a country that many people still struggled to locate on the map: Uzbekistan.
He arrived in Tashkent in 2002 with little more than curiosity and a belief that good-quality medicine at the right price could find a market anywhere. “When I arrived in Uzbekistan, I was immediately struck by the warmth and support I received,” he later recalled.
At the time, Uzbekistan’s economy was still tightly controlled. Pharmaceutical imports required multiple Government permissions, detailed price justifications and ministry approvals. Currency conversion was restricted, and credit for imports was limited to items the Government classified as essential. The market offered significant opportunities for affordable, quality medicines, but the regulatory environment made entry difficult.
Nevertheless, Tiwary started small. What began as a trading operation gradually developed into Shayana Farm, today among Uzbekistan’s top five pharmaceutical companies.
Building a pharmaceutical brand in Central Asia
The numbers tell part of the story. Shayana Farm employs over 500 people, the vast majority of whom are local Uzbek employees, alongside a small core of Indian professionals.
Its brands have established strong positions in the market. Qupen (Küpen) is a leading painkiller brand, while Feromax has built a strong presence in the anaemia segment. Other products, including hepatitis treatments under the Welson brand, have also developed significant market positions.
From tablets and capsules to injectables, the company’s pharmaceutical portfolio continues to expand.
The scale of the opportunity is considerable. Uzbekistan’s pharmaceutical market is estimated at approximately $2 billion, creating significant opportunities for companies investing in local manufacturing and distribution. Within this landscape, the market associated with Shayana Pharma is estimated at approximately $41 million, reflecting the company’s established commercial presence.
From trading to manufacturing: A strategic turning point
Tiwary’s journey was never limited to selling imported medicines. After 2013, the Uzbek Government introduced incentives to encourage domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing. These included tax benefits, easier conversion of funds for raw materials, customs-duty exemptions on eligible manufacturing equipment and substances, and preferential treatment for companies establishing production facilities.
“The Government of Uzbekistan introduced numerous privileges for manufacturers… this applied only if you had your own production facility,” Tiwary explained in a 2024 interview.
These reforms, alongside the phased introduction of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and Good Distribution Practice (GDP) standards, changed the economics of the pharmaceutical business.
In 2017, Well Med Pharm, Shayana Farm’s manufacturing unit, began operations in Tashkent. The company is now investing further in a modern facility inside the Tashkent Pharma Park, focusing on sterile injectables and solid dosage forms as Uzbekistan continues to strengthen domestic pharmaceutical production.
A new India-Uzbekistan pharmaceutical partnership
The next chapter of Tiwary’s entrepreneurial journey is taking shape through an ambitious joint venture with Meros Pharmaceutical Company.
Under the proposed partnership structure, Shayana Pharma will hold a 51 per cent stake, while Meros Pharmaceutical Company will hold the remaining 49 per cent. The joint venture is expected to build on the strengths of both companies, combining Shayana’s established pharmaceutical presence and market experience with Meros’s local business capabilities.
The partnership is associated with a reported 30 per cent market share, underlining the strategic importance of the collaboration in Uzbekistan’s pharmaceutical sector.
The proposed project also represents a larger vision: strengthening pharmaceutical manufacturing in Uzbekistan while creating a stronger platform for Indian investment, technology and professional expertise in Central Asia.
A thousand jobs and a growing Indian footprint
Perhaps the most significant aspect of the next phase is its employment potential.
The expansion vision envisages approximately 1,000 new jobs, creating substantial opportunities for the local workforce. Alongside this, the company is planning a recruitment initiative involving approximately 60 Indian employees, bringing Indian technical, managerial and pharmaceutical expertise into the developing operation.
This employment strategy reflects a two-way partnership: Indian professionals contributing technical knowledge and operational experience, while Uzbek employees form the foundation of local manufacturing, distribution and business development.
If implemented as planned, the initiative could become an important example of how Indian businesses can contribute to industrial development and employment generation in Central Asia.
Government support and a long-term investment horizon
Uzbekistan’s investment policy has also played an important role in attracting pharmaceutical manufacturing projects.
The proposed project is expected to benefit from a substantial package of Government incentives, including:
• Free land allocation for the manufacturing project.
• Tax benefits, including a proposed tax exemption for up to 10 years.
• Exemption from import duties on eligible manufacturing equipment.
• Discounted rates for gas and electricity.
• Preferential rates for water and other essential utilities.
The proposed investment framework is designed around a 25-year horizon, providing a long-term foundation for manufacturing, employment generation and industrial development.
Such incentives reflect Uzbekistan’s broader ambition to attract foreign investment, develop domestic production capacity and establish itself as an important pharmaceutical manufacturing destination in the region.
For Indian companies, the opportunity extends beyond a single market. Uzbekistan can potentially serve as a strategic gateway to the wider Central Asian pharmaceutical market.
A story connecting Bihar, India and Uzbekistan
Ashok Kumar Tiwary’s own story remains rooted in two places. His schooling in a village near Chapra gave him discipline. Moscow provided technical grounding. Uzbekistan gave him the opportunity to build.
In 2023, President Droupadi Murmu conferred on him the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, recognising his contribution as an overseas Indian entrepreneur.
During the Covid-19 crisis, he also helped mobilise oxygen concentrators, oximeters and essential medicines through the Indian community in Uzbekistan for India, including Bihar.
His commitment to the community is also reflected in the company’s CSR activities, including school supplies for children from low-income families and support for orphanages and cancer centres.
Beyond business: Building a bridge between two nations
Two decades after arriving in Tashkent, the young man from Chapra has become more than a pharmaceutical entrepreneur. His journey represents the growing economic relationship between India and Uzbekistan.
From a small trading operation in 2002 to an established pharmaceutical business, from local manufacturing to a proposed joint venture with a significant market presence, and from employing hundreds of people to planning approximately 1,000 additional jobs, Tiwary’s story reflects the possibilities created by entrepreneurship, persistence and international cooperation.
His next ambition is not simply to expand a pharmaceutical company. It is to deepen the India-Uzbekistan industrial partnership, create employment, strengthen local manufacturing and bring Indian expertise to a rapidly developing market.
For a boy who left Chapra with an engineering degree and a willingness to explore the unknown, Tashkent has become home and a platform for a much larger vision.