New Delhi, Sept. 6 -- RPG Life Sciences has spent Rs.215 crore buying two active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) makers in the space of five weeks-an aggressive run for a company owned by a group known for watching every rupee of capital.

And it is not done. The drugmaker has a further Rs.700 crore earmarked for inorganic growth, and is already hunting larger targets.

Driving the spree is a bet on how the world buys its medicines now. "The conversations are not around India versus China," managing director Ashok Nair told Mint. "China continues to remain a part of the global pharma supply." What has changed, he said, is that customers want sourcing diversification and reduced concentration-the essence of the 'China plus one' strategy-an...