The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman is the highest Indian award for Overseas Indians or an organisation or institution established and run by Overseas Indian diaspora, constituted by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India in conjunction with the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, to honour exceptional and meritorious contribution in their chosen field/profession. The award is given by the President of India. Since 2016, the Government of India has doubled the number of awardees each year to 30 after a decision to grant the award once every two years.
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is a celebratory day observed on 9 January by the Republic of India to mark the contribution of the Overseas Indian community towards the development of India. The day commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to Mumbai on 9 January 1915.
The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) was a ministry of the Government of India. It was dedicated to all matters relating to the Indian diaspora around the world.
Yusuff Ali Musaliam Veettil Abdul Kader, popularly known as M. A. Yusuff Ali, is an Indian businessman and billionaire. He is the chairman and managing director of LuLu Group International, which owns the LuLu Hypermarket chain worldwide and LuLu International Shopping Mall. With an annual turnover of US$8.4 billion, LuLu Group International employs the largest number of Indian diaspora|. According to Forbes Middle East, Yusuff Ali was ranked No. 1 in Top 100 Indian business owners in the Arab World 2018. As per Forbes billionaires list published in October 2023, he was ranked 27th richest Indian with net worth of US$6.9 billion.
M. Arunaachalam is a Hong Kong-based businessman and entrepreneur, born and educated in India. He has previously been the chairman of The Indian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong, and as of 2009, he has been a member of its General Committee. Arunaachalam is also the chairman of the Indian Chamber Fiftieth Anniversary Education Trust and the Disaster Relief Fund for India.
Puthan Naduvakkatt Chenthamaraksha Menon, also known as P. N. C. Menon is an Omani billionaire businessman born in Palakkad, Kerala. He is the founder and chairman of Sobha Ltd & Sobha LLC.
Sri Prakash Lohia is an Indian-born Indonesian billionaire businessman, and the founder and chairman of Indorama Corporation, a diversified petrochemical and textile company.
P.V.Radhakrishna Pillai or Plavalil Kizhakkethil Vasudevan Radhakrishna Pillai is an Indian engineer based in Bahrain. He was born in Mavelikara, in Alappuzha district Kerala of India.
Priyanca Radhakrishnan is a New Zealand politician who has been elected to the New Zealand parliament since the 2017 general election as a representative of the New Zealand Labour Party and was Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector from 2020 to 2023.
Jawaharlal R. Gangaramani, is an Indian businessperson and the Partner of Al Fara'a Group which has presence in the UAE, Saudi Arabia & Oman. In 2010, the Government of India awarded him with the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, for his services to the field of social work.
B. Ravi Pillai 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.
Raghavan Seetharaman is a former CEO of Doha Bank (DSM:DHBK). He resigned in March 2022 after 15 years as CEO. Set up in 1978, Doha Bank is one of the largest commercial banks in Qatar. In 2015, business magazine Forbes ranked Seetharaman 6th in the Forbes’ Top Indian Leaders in the Arab World.
Sant Singh Virmani is a US-based Indian plant breeder, rice scientist and a former Principal Scientist at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). He served IRRI from 1979 to 2005 and retired from its service as the deputy head of the Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biochemistry Division.
Panchapakesa Jayaraman is an Indian writer, scholar, vedic priest and a former executive director of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, USA. He is a known academic in Vedic Studies and Indian philosophy. He has edited six and authored 12 books including, Subrahmaṇya Bhāratī: Bhārata sapūta, published in 1967 by Kshitija Prakāśana.
Sasindran Muthuvel is the Current Governor for West New Britain Province and former Minister of State Owned Enterprises in Papua New Guinea The Governor in Papua New Guinea is equivalent to the position of the Chief Minister in India. And equivalent to the position of Premier in Australia
Rajni Kanabar was an M.B.B.S. doctor and philanthropist belonging to the third generation of an Indian-origin family in Tanzania. He was the founder-chairman of Regency Medical Centre in Dar es Salaam, and the initiator-convenor of the Tanzania Heart Babies Project, which he established in the year 1979. Born in Mwanza, he was presented with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award as a person of Indian origin, from the Government of India in 2010, for facilitating the surgeries of children in Tanzania suffering from congenital heart diseases. He also received the PBS Award Label from the High Commission of India in Tanzania in 2013, and the Order of the United Republic of Tanzania Medal in 2014.
Siddeek Ahmed is an Indian entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Eram Group, a business conglomerate with operations in several sectors including oil and gas, power, construction, manufacturing, travel, healthcare, IT, media, logistics, automotive and training and education. He also works for the benefit of rural India. Ahmed was the recipient of the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman Award in 2021 for his work in various domains like that of education, business, medicine, employment and the environment. Because of his work towards improved toilet hygiene, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the Toilet Titan Award to Dr. Ahmed at the Safaigiri Summit in 2015. He is also listed as the top Indian business leader in the Middle East by Forbes in 2021
Siddharth Balachandran is an Indian-born UAE-based entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. He is the executive chairman and CEO of Buimerc Corporation, an investment holding company headquartered in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). In 2023, he was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) for his contributions in the field of business and community welfare by the President of India Droupadi Murmu, the highest Indian award for Non-resident Indian and Overseas Citizen of India.
