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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 2026, his net worth is estimated at Template:Currency billion.[1]
Early life
Ravi Pillai was born on 2 September 1953 at Chavara,[2] a coastal town in Kollam, in the state of Kerala in Kadappa Pillai Veettil family.[3] He has a degree in Commerce from the University of Cochin.[4][2]
Career
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 the 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
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]
Personal life
Ravi Pillai is married to Geetha, and they live in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[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 Adithya Vishnu at Kollam in November 2015, at a total expense of Template:INR ($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.[15] His son Ganesh Pillai married Anjana Suresh, an engineer, in September 2021.[16]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Forbes profile: Ravi Pillai. Forbes. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Kollam City. Kollam City(2014). Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ↑ Ravi Pillai: From farmer's son to construction tycoon. News18(28 November 2013).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Arabian Business. Arabian Business(2014). Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Rediff. Rediff(7 October 2011). Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Rediff 2. Rediff 2(7 October 2007). Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ↑ Tracing The Success Story of Ravi Pillai and The Growth of RP Group of Companies as a Brand, admin. Brandzwatch(2020-10-12). Retrieved 2021-07-18.
- ↑ Raviz. Raviz(2014). Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ↑ RP hotels. RP hotels(2014). Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ↑ Rediff 3. Rediff 3(7 October 2011). Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ↑ Upasana. Upasana(2014). Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ↑ Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs. Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs(2014). Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ↑ Padma Shri. Padma Shri(2014). Retrieved 11 November 2014.
- ↑ Archived copy. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- ↑ Kerala's richest man spends a massive ₹55 crores on daughter's wedding!. The Times of India(2023-03-27). Retrieved 2024-07-07.
- ↑ 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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