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The 50 Richest Indians in the GCC 2015
Arabian Business counts down the wealthiest Indians living in the Middle East
nChairman
nStallion Group
nIndustry
n$7.2bn
nIt takes a while. Quite a long while. But eventually, Sunil Vaswani tells Arabian Business the rather simple reason he has become the Gulf’s richest Indian, with a personal fortune estimated at $7.2bn.
n“You know something? I ju
02. Feroz Allana
nFounder
nIFFCO Group
nFMCG
n$4.5bn
nLast year’s leader of the rich list has been relegated to second place, but there’s no need to feel sorry for Feroz Allana. The FMCG magnate is still worth a cool $4.5bn. His son Irfan Allana is the chairman of the Allana Group, but Feroz is credited with its staggering success. His vision and business acumen not only drives his business, but also ensures that his expertise is liberally employed by the federal government and various state governments of India, in the development of long-term plans for exports from India in general and agro-based products in particular.
nEstablished in 1975, IFFCO is a UAE-based business house, which manufactures and markets a well-integrated range of consumer products. IFFCO operates under the following business segments: fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), commodities, oils, frozen foods and institutional services. IFFCO also manufactures related derivatives and intermediates associated with these business segments. IFFCO brands include London Dairy, Tiffany, Noor, Rahma, Igloo and Al Baker.
03. Dr Ravi Pillai
nFounder
nRP Group
nConstruction
n$3.6bn
nRising by one place this year, nour estimate of Dr Ravi Pillai’s wealth has swelled as a result of rapid business expansion over the course of the last 12 months.
nWith over 80,000 employees today, his company is a multi-billion-dollar operation. Not bad for the boy from Kerala who at the age of 14 started running his first business just so he could pay for school books.
n“To me it’s just been one step at a time, it’s never been about the money, just trying to work hard and do things the right way,” he told us last year.nThe Saudi-based RP Group has interests in construction, travel and tourism, healthcare, retail and education sectors. The most prominent of these is Nasser S Al Hajri Corporation, the largest industrial contractor in the Middle East.
nDr Pillai has an MBA from Cochin University and an honorary doctorate from Excelsior State University in the United States. In 2007, Dr Pillai was bestowed with the coveted Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the president of India for his commendable services to Non-Resident Indians and exemplary track record in entrepreneurship.nNext on Dr Pillai’s hit list is Dubai, where his RP Global subsidiary has huge plans in the property, education and hospitality segments.
04. BR Shetty
nFounder
nNMC Healthcare
nHealthcare
n$3.3bn
nThe man from Mangalore made global headlines last year with his eye-catching takeover of exchange giant Travelex.
nCompleted just two weeks ago, the deal will see Travelex merged with Shetty’s home-grown giant UAE Exchange — with the new merged company all set to list in Abu Dhabi by 2017. If anything, the deal proves Shetty’s determination to keep on building what is already an impressive portfolio of businesses. Shetty is pretty much an institution in his own right having created one of the UAE’s best-known medical outfits. He is considering opening hospitals in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with further expansion across the MENA region once political stability returns.
nShetty arrived in Abu Dhabi in 1973, establishing New Medical Centre (NMC) two years later.
nHe also quickly set up UAE Exchange, which accounts for 12 percent of all remittances to India. Shetty was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman in 2007, and the Padma Shri in 2009 for his services to trade and industry.
05. Yusuffali MA
nManaging director
nLuLu Group International
nRetail
n$3.21bn
nFresh from meeting Barack Obama during the US president’s recent trip to India, Yusuffali MA has seen plenty of highlights over the past year or so. The LuLu International Group founder has announced bumper investments in India, Saudi Arabia and the Far East — altogether worth well over $1bn. The company also took a hefty stake in the UK-based East India Company, opened seven hypermarkets in the GCC and India, and also launched the biggest hotel in Kerala — the Marriott Kochi — in December.
nAll in all, LuLu International now has 112 stores in the Gulf, Yemen, Egypt and India, while Yusuffali himself has substantial investments in three of India’s biggest banks. According to Deloitte, the firm is the biggest retailer in the Middle East and one of the fastest-growing in the world, ranking in the top 200 companies. Not bad for a virtually penniless man who made his way to the UAE in 1973 on a small boat to work in his uncle’s tiny distribution company.
06. Raghuvinder Kataria
nChairman
nKataria Holdings
nBanking and finance
n$3bn
nWith investments in the UK, the US, Denmark, Germany, the UAE, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong, Kataria Holdings has a genuinely global reach. Raghuvinder Kataria is one of the best-known wheeler dealers in the region with a spectacular track record of success. Raised in Uganda, Kataria moved to the UK as a young man. Early in his professional career, he led the formation of JT Telecom — a joint venture between Telia of Sweden and Thailand-based Jasmine Telecom — that pioneered mobile telephony in India. That JV company later merged with Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Enterprises to provide coverage across the world’s second-most populous nation.
nToday, Bharti Airtel is the number one provider in India and the third-largest in-country mobile operator in the world.nKataria remains a founding shareholder in that company — which now serves nearly 250 million subscribers.
07. Shaji Ul Mulk
nFounder and Chairman
nMulk Holdings
nIndustry
n$1.8bn
nShaji Ul Mulk is the founder and chairman Mulk Holdings.
nMulk Holdings is a multinational group with diversified business interests in Manufacturing of Metal Composites, Healthcare, Real Estate, Trading & Commodities, Aluminium Coil Coatings, Solar Energy & Energy Generation. The company with its headquarters based in Hamriya Freezone Sharjah, U.A.E is spread across Europe, U.S.A, Russia, India, Pakistan and Middle East. Mulk holding’s flagship brand Alubond u.s.a Metal Composites has grown into The World’s largest Metal composite brand with operations in 11 countries and market reach of 90 countries.
nShaji’s is an ardent cricket promoter and provides employment to professional cricketers for his champion ALUBOND TIGERS Cricket team. He is also actively involved in various Strategic Administrative levels of Emirates Cricket Board.
nPhilanthropy plays an important role in shaji’s life and the company has dedicated CSR activity setting us many charity schools, clinics, libraries and orphan marriage programs.
08. PNC Menon
nFounder
nSobha Group
nProperty
n$1.7bn
nAnother real estate ngiant, PNC Menon is currently working on perhaps his biggest project yet — the Mohammed Bin Rashid City development in Dubai.
nAlmost three decades after his entrepreneurial journey began, and at the age of 65, the founder of the Sobha Group of companies said it is “the most exciting thing to have happened in my life”.
n “It’s a dream project for me,” he said in the surroundings of his Dubai home in Emirates Hills.nMenon started his entrepreneurial journey from very small beginnings. He set up an interior decoration firm in Oman in 1976. Today his organisation, the Sobha Group, is a multinational, multiproduct group with significant interests and investments in the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Brunei, Tanzania and India.
09. L T Pagarani
nChairman
nChoithrams
nRetail
n$1.5bn
nhe Choithrams super–market brand was originally set up in West Africa in 1944 by Thakurdas Choithram nPagarani, although it is the company’s current chairman who is credited with much of its success.
nThe elder Pagarani opened the first grocery in Sierra Leone and over the last seven decades Choithram & Sons has developed into an international company spanning Europe, North America, Africa as well as the Gulf.
nThree decades ago Choithrams established its first UAE store and now has a total of 25 across the emirates as well as the GCC.
nToday, the firm is led by LT Pagarani, who continues to expand the brand across the region. In 2010, Pagarani confirmed that Choithrams planned to almost double the number of shops across the UAE and open smaller convenience stores.
nAside from retail, the company also has interests in food services, hospitality, garments and household appliances, and logistics and distribution.
10.Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil
nManaging Director
nVPS Healthcare
nHealthcare
n$1.37
nDr. Shamsheer Vayalil is one the leading lights of the healthcare industry and serves as Managing Director at VPS Healthcare.
nIn a short span of only eight years, Dr. Shamsheer has established a truly integrated, end-to-end, healthcare organization, delivering quality healthcare that fulfills the needs of the community. A humble, yet ambitious beginning with one hospital in 2007 is now a fully integrated healthcare business with thousands of employees, more than 600 doctors; 11 multispecialty hospitals, pharmaceutical manufacturing unit and healthcare support services spread across the Middle East, Europe and India.
nMoreover, with the perfect vision and strategy, Dr. Shamsheer expanded the hospital to include on-site clinics, one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing in the GCC and international retail chain, out-of-hospital services and IT services to provide comprehensive healthcare services.nDr Shamsheer Vayalil’s net worth at market valuation currently stands at US$ 1.37 billion.
11.Tony Jashanmal
nExecutive director
nJashanmal Group
nRetail
n$1.35bn
nThe third retailer in this year’s top ten, Tony Jashanmal’s Jashanmal Group has benefitted hugely from the economic recovery in the Gulf, and especially in the UAE. The firm started from humble beginnings with just one store in Iraq in 1919 and has grown into one of the most successful retail conglomerates in the region. Jashanmal overseas the retail and wholesale trading of high-end luxury and consumer goods and services. The company represents various global retail franchises in the region and operates a newspaper and magazines division which oversees the marketing and distribution of books and magazines in the Gulf region.
