Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (Orchid), the Chennai based pharmaceutical major has been awarded Trophy for Excellent Performance in Exports as part of the National Export Awards Programme, 1998-99. The Trophy was received from the Prime Minister of India, Hon'ble Atal Behari Vajpayee by Mr K Raghavendra Rao, Managing Director of Orchid at an impressive function held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on May 8, 2000. Thiru Murasoli Maran, Minister for Industry and Commerce was also present.

Orchid, promoted by Mr K Raghavendra Rao as India's pioneering 100% EOU in cephalosporin manufacture, has quickly emerged as India's largest manufacturer-exporter of cephalosporins and is rated amongst the top four cephalosporin manufacturers of the world. Orchid has the distinction of being the youngest pharmaceutical company with the fastest growth rate. Orchid's international success is backed by high technology manufacturing facilities and a state-of-the-art R&D Centre. Orchid is the only pharmaceutical company of its size and scale in India to have both ISO 9002 and ISO 14001 certifications. Orchid has been winning coveted export awards successively since inception, besides other awards for corporate performance.

Commenting on the Award, Mr Raghavendra Rao stated that commitment to technology and organizational team-work have been responsible for Orchid's impressive export performance. He looked forward to more challenging achievements in the field of exports in the years to come.