KOLKATA: "It's a world I left behind ... Going back seeing a bottle of Cantharidine oil and a Ship match box... made me nostalgic too." Shah Rukh Khan, turned back the clock while talking about the art direction of his last film Raees, based on the bootleggers of 1980's Gujarat, during a recent interview to Mumbai Mirror.That's not the sepia tonned memoirs of just one Badshaah of Bollywood, but that of an entire generation growing up in pre-liberalised India. But everyone, including King Khan will be pleasantly surprised that Cantharidine is still being manufactured from a plant in central Mumbai. It is also the same company that made the first anti snake venom drug in the country and gave us popular household products like phenyl, napthalene balls and that sticky hair oil.Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals (BCPL) is turning out to be a template of hope for many of its public sector undertakings PSUs ) peers. India's oldest pharma company of 125 years has just turned profitable after languishing in red for 64 years.A fortnight ago, its shareholders adopted the audited accounts and in the process acknowledging the massive yet quiet turnaround that its MD, PM Chandraiah , a cost accountant for 33 years, began scripting since 2014 when he joined from Engineers Projects India Ltd, also a PSU, as its finance director. He was elevated earlier this year.From dealing with militant trade unions to insouciant work ethic, Chandriah and his predeccesor EA Subramanian, had their work cut out. But with small tweaks' in working capital management, the company brought down input costs by 15-20%. The company's cost audit reports pending for the last six years were completed within a short span of 8 months to save a penalty outgo of Rs 3 lakh per year."We also blocked financial leakages, centralised the system, made biometric attendance mandatory and installed CCTV cameras to enforce discipline, and optimally used space to earn more from property rents,” said Chandraiah, sitting in his spartan office in central Kolkata The financial discipline is yielding results. From a loss of Rs 36.5 crore, the company posted a net profit of Rs 4.51 crore in FY17. Its EBITDA of Rs 24.04 crore is more than double in just one fiscal. However, there is a sizeable other income of Rs 24.88 crore on account of rent and other accounting provisions.The numbers belie a crucial fact with 65% of its revenues coming from its pharma division alone, the company is perennially hamstrung. As per government diktat, it has to still produce and sell formulations to state agencies at a subsidised rate and run up massive losses to sustain the social objective of the Narendra Modi government. Only 35% of its sales are from household FMCG and low margin industrial chemicals segment.Even then, Subramanian believes the PPP (public-private partnership) policy of the Union government can help achieve Rs 100-crore turnover mark. In addition to the commissioning of the upgraded Maniktala facility, the closure of two sick pharma PSUs - Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals and Rajasthan Drugs & Pharmaceuticals has worked in BCPL's favour to improve its operations. "Central and state government orders are now getting divided between BCPL and Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Limited from December 2016 instead of earlier four.The only regret, the home state of West Bengal is not procuring its medicinal requirements from the storied company in its own backyard.Buoyed by profits, the company is set to commence commercial production of injectables at its Maniktala factory in Kolkata from June this year and plan to start tonic products soon. The injectables segment has the potential to garner Rs 50 crore of revenue in one year, insiders claim. A recent tie-up with online grocery Big Basket in Kolkata to tap the millennial consumer with its non pharma products is also expected to be expanded nationally. The company is eyeing Rs 50-60 lakh of online sales in the current fiscal alone, while targetting to increase it by four folds to Rs 2 crore by the next fiscal.Chandraiah has also sought the health ministry's approval to restart the production of anti-snake venom drug at its Maniktala unit in Kolkata. He's confident if given a go-ahead, "we plan to begin production within two-three years."In this, there is a touching personal connect as well. As a young boy growing up in the villages of Telengana , Chandraiah lost his father to a snake bite before his class X exams. "As fate would have it, I joined a company which was the earliest manufacturer of anti-snake venom drug but we had stopped its production 10 years ago," he says and adds, "Between 50,000 to one lakh people succumb annually We have tied up with National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) seeking their expertise to manufacture the drug and have also tied up with a Chennai based to buy snake venom."Founded by the father of Indian chemistry Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray with a meagre capital of Rs 700 in 1892, BCPL was declared sick and referred to the Board for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) in 1993 after its net worth was wiped out. In the early 1980s, the central government underIndira Gandhi nationalised it. But that did not address the company's woes - high production costs, a ballooning employee base, non competitive prices of OTC medicines, lack of innovation and brand building, cumulatively leading to fast erosion of market share.Several revival packages were introduced but failed. And a once regal corporation faded into oblivion, saddled with all its problems. Ironically at a time when the company seems to pull itself up form a rut, the government has decided to privatise it all together.Chandraih may make valiant claims that with proper support he can make Cantharidine into a Rs 500 crore cult brand, but industry watchers know that the challenges are monumental."Cantharidine had a cult appeal earlier especially in eastern India. However, the hair oil market has changed dramatically since then with focus towards value added lighter hair oils. Also, packaging in the segment has improved dramatically. The brand has lost out a lot in recent years on various aspects; including negligible brand spends," feels Navroz Mahudawala, Founder, Candle Partners, an investment bank. Styling gels and other innovations have also altered consumption habbits.Similarly, in the household cleaning market, players like Reckitt Benckiser (Colin, Lizol, Harpic, Dettol), HUL (Domex) and Dabur (Sanifresh) have been aggressive & BCPL's older brands like Pheneol, Klin & Lesol have lost out. The brands are now better packaged & considering the scale can afford to advertise heavily ; a PSU would be at a huge disadvantage due to this factor.Chandriah himself admits he lacks the budget, a long term vision from his bosses and the manpower to fight nimble private sector competitors."The turnaround was possible primarily because of team work and leadership but the team may find it difficult to hold on to the profits," accepts Sajal Roy Choudhury, an independent director of the company and adds "The news of the strategic sale is propelling competitors to create a wedge in the company's functioning and performance."But the brands still have enough equity for suitors to line up." I would like to take over Bengal Chemicals. The products have immense growth potential. When it comes for disinvestment, we will certainly bid for it," quipped RS Agarwal, Executive Chairman Emami.The heritage factor cuts both ways. While the management insists that product qualities have not changed and that in turn creates the goodwill, brands like Pheneol with a Rs 15 crore topline are a speck in a Rs 5000 national segment. Age old production of glass bottles have also ensured online retailers like Amazon and Flipkart rejecting to pick them from the depots spanning 20 cities nationwide.For the moment, real estate is the company's cash cow that throws up Rs 12 crore rental income annually. But industry players say the company may unlock value of close to Rs 500 crore if it decided to monetise its vast land bank.But even with a treasure trove of legacy and embedded value, for the company it's an existence between a wing and a prayer. As Radheshyam Das, an employee at one of its Kolkata plant laconically puts it: "All of us here have decided to put our best foot forward to improve the company’s operations. At the same time, we are keeping our fingers crossed."