B. Ravi Pillai

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B. Ravi Pillai
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Born (1953-09-02) 2 September 1953 (age 71)
Chavara, Kerala, India
EducationCochin University
OccupationFounder, CEO, RP Group
Net worthUS$2.9 billion (September 2020)[1]
Spouse(s)Geetha Pillai
Children2

B. Ravi Pillai (born 2 September 1953) is an Indian billionaire businessman. He is the founder and managing director of RP Group of companies.

Early life[edit]

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

Career[edit]

During his time at university, he launched his first business, a chit fund in Kollam on reportedly borrowed money.[5] 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.[5] 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.[6] Two years later, he moved into construction, and established Nasser S. Al Hajri Corporation (NSH) with 150 employees,[6] which has over the years grown to become the flagship company of his business group,[2][6] RP Group, which is known to employ over 70,000 employees across its businesses.[4] The shopping mall in South Kerala, RP Mall at Kollam city is owned by Pillai.[7]

Pillai has expanded his business to other countries including United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain, and has interests in construction, hospitality, steel, cement, and oil and gas industries.[2] RP Group is known to hold stakes in hotels such as Leela Kovalam, Hotel Raviz,[8] Kollam, and WelcomHotel Raviz Kadavu,[9] Kozhikode in his home state of Kerala.[10] He is involved in health care through Upasana Hospital and Research Centre, a 300-bed multispecialty hospital in Kollam.,[2][11]

Awards and recognition[edit]

Pillai received an honorary doctorate from Excelsior College, New York,[4] and was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the Government of India in 2008.[12] In 2010, the Government of India included him in the Republic Day honours list for the civilian honour of Padma Shri.[13]

Arabian Business ranked him as the fourth most powerful Indian in the Middle East in 2015.[4]

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

Personal life[edit]

Ravi Pillai is married to Geetha, and they live in Bahrain.[1] They have two children, a son Ganesh Ravi Pillai, and a daughter Arathi Ravi Pillai.[14]

He paid for his daughter Arathi's wedding with Adhitya Vishnu in Kollam in November 2015, at a total expense of Rupees 55 crores ($7.5 million). The wedding was organized by the production designer who worked on the film, Bahubali. This is considered to be the most expensive wedding in Kerala till date.[15]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Forbes profile: Ravi Pillai". Forbes. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Kollam City". Kollam City. 2014. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "IBN Live". IBN Live. 2014. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Arabian Business". Arabian Business. 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Rediff". Rediff. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Rediff 2". Rediff 2. 7 October 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ "Raviz". Raviz. 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "RP hotels". RP hotels. 2014. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  10. ↑ "Rediff 3". Rediff 3. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  11. ↑ "Upasana". Upasana. 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  12. ↑ "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.
  13. ↑ "Padma Shri" (PDF). Padma Shri. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  14. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 30 November 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. ↑ "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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