Arvind Lal

Brigadier Arvind Lal is an Indian billionaire, pathologist, medical administrator and the chairman and managing director of Dr Lal PathLabs, a medical diagnostic centre in Delhi. A medical graduate and a medical academic, he is reported to have modernized Indian medical diagnostics and initiated the first Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the field of laboratory testing in India. He holds the rank of a Brigadier in the Indian Armed Forces, an honorary rank conferred by the Army. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2009, for his contributions to Medicine.

Biography Arvind Lal, born on 22 August 1949, graduated in medicine from the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, secured his post graduate degree from the same institution and started his career there as a lecturer at the Department of Pathology. In 1977, he went back to his family business by taking charge of Dr Lal PathLabs, a laboratory services providing institution founded by his father, S. K. Lal, in 1949. Under his leadership, the institution modernized its diagnostic services by incorporating Information and communications technology (ICT) systems and branched out to many parts of the country, presently having over 150 laboratories. Affiliated to the College of American Pathologists (CAP), the institution is known to cater to 9000 patients a day, reported to be highest number of tests conducted by a pathology laboratory in India. The annual turn over stood at 5.5 billion as of March 2014 and the company floated its first IPO in 2014. and a non-executive Director at the Centre For Sight, New Delhi. A recipient of special honour from the World Health Organization, he received the International Business Council Award in 1994 and the Indira Gandhi Solidarity Award in 1995. This was followed by Healthcare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003 and the Delhi Rattan Award from the Government of Delhi in 2005. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2009. The same year, The Armed Forces of India honoured him with the honorary rank of a Brigadier, making him the first civilian doctor to receive the honour. He is also a recipient of the Eminent Medical Person Award.