From Losses To Profit: Prashant Tandon's Bold Plans For Tata 1mg in 2025

India’s leading digital healthcare platform, Tata 1mg has not only emerged as the market leader in the online pharmacy space with around 31 per cent market share but has also emerged as the trusted name ever since Tata joined hands with 1 mg to make it Tata 1 mg in 2021 when Tata’s picked up 55 per cent stake in 1 mg.  

The CEO and Founder of Tata 1mg, Prashant Tandon’s entrepreneurial journey has been a remarkable one. From his early days at Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and McKinsey to his startup ventures and eventual role at the helm of Tata 1mg, Tandon’s path has been defined by growth. Tandon’s career began at Hindustan Unilever, where he worked in factory operations. The lessons he learned there, especially around leadership, laid a strong foundation for his later entrepreneurial journey. 

“Running factory operations was where I learned a lot of my leadership lessons,” he recalls in an exclusive and freewheeling interview with Republic Business. Tandon’s time with HUL also saw him work in brand management across Asia, which broadened his global perspective. His next career stop was at McKinsey in San Francisco, where he was exposed to the world of startups and entrepreneurship—a pivotal moment that sparked his interest in the space. 
“Going to the US was incredibly exciting. It was my first exposure to startups, and seeing how Silicon Valley operated was infectious,” Tandon told Republic Business. 

With a clear vision of tackling India’s evolving health tech market, Tandon co-founded Healthkart upon his return to India. While the venture didn’t succeed, the lessons learned from Health Chakra would later prove invaluable in shaping the success of Tata 1mg.

The Big Leap: Entering Healthcare Tech

After several years of gaining experience and reflecting on the growing demand for health technology, Tandon saw a unique opportunity in India’s healthcare space. “I knew India would see a lot of evolution in health tech, so we decided to dive in,” he explains. With Healthkart laying the groundwork, Tandon and his team would eventually pivot to create Tata 1mg—a trusted platform to deliver health and pharmacy services online. Today, Tata 1mg stands at the forefront of India’s e-pharmacy revolution, but Tandon acknowledges that the journey has been anything but easy. “There’s still a lot of room to grow. The market is large, fragmented, and under-organized, but the opportunity to build a large business is real,” he says.

Profitability and Sustainability in a Competitive Market

Despite being in a high-investment phase, Prashant was optimistic about Tata 1mg’s profitability trajectory. He shared that the core business lines—pharmacy and diagnostics—are already self-sustaining and profitable. “On most of our core business lines, we’ve now reached a stage where they are self-sustaining and profitable,” Prashant explained, “but we will continue to invest in new lines of business.”
This profitability is underpinned by Tata 1mg’s ability to provide both high-quality medicines and diagnostics at competitive prices. As the company continues to grow, it aims to maintain its focus on quality while expanding its reach. “We are not even 1 per cent of the market in pharmacy yet, and there is so much headroom for growth,” he added.

Productivity Beyond Hours

When asked about the recent debate on long work hours sparked by L&T’s CEO’s comment about mandatory 90-hour workweeks, Prashant emphasised the importance of balance in work and life. “Hard work cannot be trivialized,” he acknowledged, “but neither is burning out trying to be present in the office for 70, 80, 90 hours a week.” He believes in working efficiently and values the importance of recharging, highlighting that productivity isn’t defined by the number of hours worked, but by the quality of work during those hours.

For Prashant, weekends with family are sacred. “My weekends with my kids, and my family are extremely important,” he shared. He explained that while he may often think about work even when he's at home, finding time to disconnect and recharge is crucial for maintaining long-term productivity.

Identifying Opportunities in Pain Points

One of the key philosophies that Tandon has adhered to throughout his career is that business growth often comes from identifying and solving pain points. “Wherever there is a pain point, there is an opportunity,” says Tandon. “We’ve learned that value creation happens when you solve problems with new methods, innovation, and new thought processes.” This focus on problem-solving and innovation has propelled Tata 1mg to its current status in the market. By continuously refining its offerings and responding to consumers’ evolving needs, Tata 1mg has managed to build a robust and scalable business in the fragmented Indian healthcare sector.

Tata Group and 1 mg Tie Up

In 2021, Tata 1mg took a pivotal step in its growth by securing a 55 per cent investment from the Tata Group. Tandon reflects on this partnership with a sense of gratitude and purpose: “Tata is the one brand that stands out for trust. In healthcare, the currency is trust. If consumers believe in you and you deliver on that trust, you can succeed,” he shares.

While many might think the decision was driven by the competitive spirit—especially with rivals backed by giants like Reliance—Tandon clarifies that the partnership with Tata was more about the alignment of values. “Our aspiration was always to be the most trusted healthcare company. And when Tata approached us, it was a perfect match. They have a legacy built on trust, and we believed this was the ideal partner to take our vision forward,” he says.

Navigating the Challenges of Scaling

Despite the initial excitement about the Tata partnership, Tandon acknowledges the challenges of integrating a large corporate entity with a fast-moving startup. “We knew that getting into a larger corporate setup would involve new governance, processes, and systems,” he admits. “It’s a part of growing up as a company.” While the governance standards have certainly been tightened and formalized, Tandon emphasizes that Tata 1mg has worked hard to maintain its entrepreneurial spirit. “We’re making sure that the culture of openness, innovation, and fast-paced decision-making remains intact, even as we grow,” he notes.

Tata 1mg continues to operate with an open-office, no-cabin policy to preserve its agile, startup-like environment. However, as Tandon points out, “the rigor is more on the governance side. But it’s a balance that works for us. This marriage between the entrepreneurial mindset and the stability of a trusted corporate group is a strong proposition.”

Key Focus Areas for Tata 1mg

As the healthcare market in India continues to expand, Tata 1mg is strategically positioning itself to capture significant market share. The company operates across four primary verticals: diagnostics, online pharmacy, consultation, and health information. However, it’s the seamless integration of these services that truly drives the company’s growth. “Unlike the offline world where pharmacy, diagnostics, and consultation are separate transactions, we bring it all together digitally for the consumer,” Prashant said.

The company’s growth strategy is multi-faceted. While pharmacy services are widely available across the country (spanning 20,000 pin codes), diagnostics are available in 55 cities and continue to expand. Prashant highlighted two key focus areas for growth: institutional business and brick-and-mortar stores. Tata 1mg’s brick-and-mortar expansion involves setting up physical stores in strategic locations like Delhi NCR, Kolkata, and Jaipur, while institutional business growth focuses on collaborations with corporates, insurance companies, hospitals, and pharma companies.

Navigating Quick Commerce and Delivering Speed

The quick commerce sector, especially in the context of 10-minute delivery promises, has been heating up in India. Prashant acknowledged the changing consumer behavior and the increasing demand for fast delivery. Tata 1mg is meeting this demand with a two-pronged strategy: leveraging physical stores for quick medicine deliveries and collaborating with BigBasket for an efficient last-mile delivery system.

“We are cognizant of the shift toward quick commerce,” Prashant noted. “In medicines, there are certain types of medications that need to be delivered quickly, like acute and symptomatic medicines.” Tata 1mg’s quick commerce strategy is focused on offering these critical medicines to consumers within minutes of ordering, primarily in cities like Delhi NCR, Jaipur, Kolkata, and Bangalore.

The Role of Technology and Strategic Partnerships

Tata 1mg’s commitment to high-quality healthcare goes beyond mere delivery speed; it’s about ensuring trust and reliability in every transaction. Prashant highlighted the challenges in India’s pharmacy ecosystem, such as the prevalence of spurious medicines, and explained that Tata 1mg’s quality assurance protocols ensure that customers receive authentic, temperature-controlled medicines. “We buy directly from pharma and ensure end-to-end supply chain temperature control,” he emphasized. “That is incredibly important, and it’s something not many players in the market can claim.”

With the backing of Tata Group’s legacy of trust and reliability, Prashant believes that Tata 1mg is uniquely positioned to lead the charge in solving the many challenges that India’s healthcare system faces. The company is working toward expanding its footprint and offering a more integrated omnichannel healthcare experience in the coming years.

Expansion and Investment in New Opportunities

Tata 1mg’s national footprint is expanding rapidly. With 85 physical centers across India, the company plans to open more diagnostic labs and retail stores in cities like Patna and Bhubaneswar. The next phase will focus on expanding services to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, with a well-thought-out expansion plan aimed at maintaining quality while scaling.

Prashant concluded with a focus on the future: “Healthcare in India is going through a rapid transformation. There’s so much opportunity, and there’s so much need to solve it fast. Capital continues to be abundantly available in the ecosystem, so there’s no reason not to solve these problems faster.” With this vision, Tata 1mg is poised for continued growth and leadership in the digital healthcare space.