Indian tycoons and executives honoured
Lulu, NMC and RP Group chiefs headline business owners category at event hosted by Forbes
The Arab world’s top Indian business leaders were on Tuesday honoured at a gala in Dubai, split into two categories: business owners and business executives.
Leading the business owner’s category was Yousuf Ali MA, managing director of Lulu Group International, followed by fellow billionaire B.R. Shetty, founder and chairman of NMC Health and BRS Ventures, and Ravi Pillai, founder and chairman of the RP Group of Companies.
The executives category was led by Sanjiv Kakkar, Unilever’s executive vice-president for the Middle East and North Africa, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, followed by Kalyana Sivagnanam, president and regional vice-president at Nissan for the Middle East, Africa and India, and Adnan Chilwan, group CEO at Dubai Islamic Bank.
The event’s organiser, Forbes Middle East, said that the gala dinner was attended by the region’s “most influential Indian business tycoons.”
Navdeep Singh Suri, India’s ambassador to the UAE, applauded the Indian expat community across the globe.
Capable ambassadors
He said: “The Indian community across the UAE holds key positions in every walk of life. The work Indian leaders are doing in the region displays the finest aspects of India and we are privileged to have these leaders being ambassadors to the UAE and bridging the gap between the two countries.”
“Indian leaders have not only stood out in business successes in the Arab World but have also started contributing back to India across sectors like health care, retail, construction, hospitality and manufacturing, helping to create jobs and better infrastructure in India,” Suri added.
The Indian community is one of the most populous and successful expat communities in the Gulf. Indian billionaires in the Gulf are worth a collective $26.4 billion (Dh97 billion).