B. Ravi Pillai | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 2 September 1953 |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Education | University of Cochin |
| Occupation(s) | Founder, Chairman, RP Group |
| Spouse | Geetha Pillai |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Kollam 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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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