B. Ravi Pillai

B. Ravi Pillai
Born (1953-09-02) 2 September 1953 (age 71)
Chavara, State of Travancore–Cochin
(present-day Kollam, Kerala), India
NationalityIndian
EducationUniversity of Cochin
Occupation(s)Founder, Chairman, RP Group
SpouseGeetha Pillai
Children2
RelativesKollam K. Chandrasekhara Pillai (uncle)[1]

B. Ravi Pillai (born 2 September 1953) is a Dubai-based Indian billionaire businessman. He is the founder and chairman of the RP Group. As of May 2023, his net worth is estimated at US$3.1 billion.[2]

Early life

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Ravi Pillai was born on 2 September 1953 at Chavara,[3] a coastal town in Kollam, in the state of Kerala in Kadappa Pillai Veettil family.[4] He has a degree in Commerce from the University of Cochin.[5][3]

Career

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During his time at university, he launched his first business, a chit fund in Kollam on reportedly borrowed money.[6] Later, he started an engineering contract business and worked for some of the major industrial houses in Kerala such as Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Limited, Hindustan Newsprint Limited, and Cochin Refineries.[6] However, a labour strike forced him to close down his business, after which he went to Saudi Arabia in 1978 where he started a small trading business.[7] Two years later, he moved into construction, and established Nasser S. Al Hajri Corporation (NSH) with 150 employees,[7] which has over the years grown to become the flagship company of his business group,[3][7] RP Group, which is known to employ over 70,000 employees across its businesses.[5] The shopping mall in South Kerala, RP Mall at Kollam city is owned by Pillai.[8]

Pillai has expanded his business to other countries including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain, and has interests in construction, hospitality, steel, cement, and oil and gas industries.[3] RP Group is known to hold stakes in hotels such as Leela Kovalam, Hotel Raviz,[9] Kollam, and WelcomHotel Raviz Kadavu,[10] Kozhikode in his home state of Kerala.[11] He is involved in health care through Upasana Hospital and Research Centre, a 300-bed multispecialty hospital in Kollam.[3][12]

Awards and recognition

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Pillai received an honorary doctorate from Excelsior College, New York,[5] and was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the Government of India in 2008.[13] In 2010, the Government of India included him in the Republic Day honours list for the civilian honour of Padma Shri.[14]

Arabian Business ranked him as the fourth most powerful Indian in the Middle East in 2015.[5]

Pillai (2nd from right at front row), other awardees stand with the President of India after receiving Pravasi Bharatiya Samman

Personal life

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Ravi Pillai is married to Geetha, and they live in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[2] They have two children, a son Ganesh Ravi Pillai, and a daughter Arathi Ravi Pillai.[15]

He paid for his daughter Arathi's wedding with Adithya Vishnu at Kollam in November 2015, at a total expense of ₹55 crores ($7.5 million), in accordance with Nair customs and cultural traditions. The wedding was organized by the production designer who worked on the film, Baahubali: The Beginning., and is considered the most expensive wedding in Kerala to date.[16] His son Ganesh Pillai married Anjana Suresh, an engineer, in September 2021.[17]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to B. Ravi Pillai.

References

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  1. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20111220133620/http://www.mathrubhumi.com/online/malayalam/news/story/1345645/2011-12-20/kerala [bare URL]
  2. ^ a b "Forbes profile: Ravi Pillai". Forbes. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Kollam City". Kollam City. 2014. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  4. ^ "Ravi Pillai: From farmer's son to construction tycoon". News18. 28 November 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d "Arabian Business". Arabian Business. 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Rediff". Rediff. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  7. ^ a b c "Rediff 2". Rediff 2. 7 October 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  8. ^ admin (12 October 2020). "Tracing The Success Story of Ravi Pillai and The Growth of RP Group of Companies as a Brand". Brandzwatch. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Raviz". Raviz. 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  10. ^ "RP hotels". RP hotels. 2014. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  11. ^ "Rediff 3". Rediff 3. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  12. ^ "Upasana". Upasana. 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  13. ^ "Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs" (PDF). Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  14. ^ "Padma Shri" (PDF). Padma Shri. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  15. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 30 November 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. ^ "Kerala's richest man spends a massive ₹55 crores on daughter's wedding!". The Times of India. 27 March 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  17. ^ "The Grand Wedding Of Arathi And Adithya Worth ₹55 Crore held in Kerela". Gabdig.com. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
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