Forbes Middle East unveils Top Indian Leaders in the Arab Region

FORBES MIDDLE EAST has revealed two rankings unveiling the region’s most successful Indian heads: The Top 100 Indian Entrepreneurs and the Top 50 Indians in Executive Management in both multinationals and Arab companies.

Some of the leaders inherited family businesses that have been operating in the region for decades, with 10 running businesses that are over 50 years old. Over 90% of the entrepreneurs have their base in the U.A.E., with their operations spread across the entire region. These tycoons have businesses spanning 24 different industries.

FORBES MIDDLE EAST held an exclusive award ceremony last night to celebrate these Indian trailblazers. The 4th Top Indian Leaders in the Arab World 2016 event was held in Dubai and attended by around 300 prominent individuals. His Excellency T.P. Seetharam, Ambassador of India to the UAE also graced the occasion as guest of honor.

H.E. Mr. T.P. Seetharam, Indian Ambassador to the UAE said, “The contribution of Indian businesspeople in the region is well known and acknowledged to be very significant and this is expected to grow in years to come. In the last year, we have not only seen the relationships between people to people prosper but also observed strengthening of the government to government bond. This confirms that our ties with the region is going beyond the transactional relationship into more on a comprehensive strategic partnership. I would like to congratulate everyone and I am grateful to Forbes Middle East for inviting me to this event for the third consecutive year.”

Top ten entrepreneurs in the Top 100 Indian Entrepreneurs category

All of them have their base in the UAE

Sunil Vaswani, Group Chairman of the Stallion Group (net worth: $2 billion)
Mr. Yusuf Ali M.A., Managing Director of Lulu Group International (net worth: $4.2 billion)
Mukesh Jagtiani, Chairman of Landmark Group (net worth: $4.4 billion)
Dr. B.R. Shetty, Founder of NMC Hospitals and UAE Exchange (net worth: $1.9 billion)
Mr. Sunny Varkey, Chairman of GEMS Education (net worth: $2.2 billion)
P.N.C. Menon, Chairman of Sobha Group (net worth: $1.5 billion)
Dr. Azad Moopen, Chairman of DM Group (net worth: $1.5 billion)
Mr. Rajen Kilachand, Chairman of Dodsal Group
Mr. B. Ravi Pillai, Chairman and Managing Director of RP Group (net worth: $3.5 billion)
Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil Parambath, Managing Director of VPS Healthcare

Top ten executives in the Top 50 Indians in Executive Management category

Mr. Sanjeev Chadha, CEO for MENA at PepsiCo International is based in the UAE.
Mr. Sanjiv Kakkar, Executive Vice President for MENA, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus at Unilever is based in the UAE.
Mr. Raghavan Seetharaman, Group CEO at Doha Bank is based in Qatar.
Mr. Sanjay Manchanda, CEO of Nakheel is based in the UAE is based in the UAE.
Mr. Adnan Chilwan, Group CEO at Dubai Islamic Bank is based in the UAE.
Mr. Raghu Malhotra, President- Middle East and Africa for MasterCard is based in the UAE.
Mr. Amit Jain, Group COO discharging duties of CEO at Emaar Properties is based in the UAE.
Mr. Vijay Malhotra, Chairman and CEO- UAE and Oman at KPMG Lower Gulf is based in the UAE.
Mr. Vishesh Bhatia, CEO at Jumbo Electronics Co. is based in the UAE.
Mr. Tariq Chauhan, Group CEO at EFS Facilities Services Group is based in the UAE.

Methodology

The list of 100 entrepreneurs was shortlisted from a list of 250 and the research was based data collected from primary resources and a questionnaire filled by them.

The selection for Top 100 entrepreneurs was based on: