Balagopal Chandrasekhar is a source of inspiration for many budding entrepreneurs as well as IAS aspirants. After achieving the dream job of his parents as an Indian Administrative Services officer, Chandrasekhar decided to quit at just 30 to enter the world of businesses. In an entrepreneurial career spanning over two decades, he built India’s largest blood bag maker before eventually selling his share in the manufacturing giant.
Born in Kerala, Balagopal cracked the UPSC civil services exam in 1976, a wish of his parents. After graduating in economics, he was pursuing a PhD at the time. The 1997-batch IAS officer of Manipur cadre, however, quit the high-ranking government job in 1983 to start his company Penpol manufacturing biomedical devices with his brother C Padkmakumar.
His decision to quit as an IAS officer after just 6 years of service was motivated by a visit to an R&D facility at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology in Thiruvananthapuram. Here, scientists had indigenously developed blood bags.
Penpol began manufacturing blood bags in 1987 with a Rs 1 crore establishment. Pioneering blood bag manufacturing in India, Chandrasekhar took his venture to new heights in 1999 by entering a joint venture with global leader, Japanese company Terumo. This built India’s largest blood bag maker, Terumo Penpol.
Chandrasekhar then sold his share in the company to the Japanese partner in 2012, retiring after a long and successful entrepreneurial career of 26 years. Since then, he has held posts like Independent Director and the Chairman of the Board at Federal Bank, a position he has held since November 2021.
