Dubai: M.A. Yousuf Ali, whose Lulu International Group operates the biggest hypermarket and supermarket chain in the Middle East, heads the list of 100 top Indian business leaders in the UAE released by Forbes Middle East this week.
Yousuf Ali is followed by Micky Jagtiani, Chairman of Landmark Group; Dr B.R. Shetty, Managing Director and CEO of UAE Exchange and Founder and CEO of NMC Health Care; and P.N.C. Menon, Founder and Chairman of Sobha Group.
“Given the historical links between the Middle East and India, and this region’s own unique location at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe, it gives me great pride to celebrate the remarkable contribution of Indians to the economic resurgence of the Middle East,” Dr Shashi Tharoor, Indian Minister of State for Human Resource Development said at the awards ceremony held last week.
The list includes 75 top businessman and 25 top CEOs and CFOs working for large corporations. Retailers dominated the list, accounting for approximately 28 per cent overall, followed by the Industrial and Real Estate sectors, with 19 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively.
“Recognising their passion and contribution to the advancement of the Arab region, Forbes Middle East revealed its long-awaited list of the Top 100 Indian Leaders in the UAE,” the publisher said in a statement.
The ranking is the result of and “in-depth research and analysis” into Indian professionals residing and/or operating businesses in the UAE, it said. The study was divided into two categories: business owners and C-level executives.
M.K. Lokesh, India’s Ambassador to the UAE and Dr. Nasser Bin Aqeel Al Tayyar, President of Arab Publisher House, publishers of Forbes Middle East, announced the names.
“Obviously it’s an honour to be considered as a leader among the Indian business community. I would rather consider this Forbes ranking as an honour for all the hardworking and inspirational Indians who have contributed so much for this great country over the past decades. This recognition will further inspire the next generation to be leaders in whatever they do,” Yousuf Ali told Gulf News.
Also in the top 10 were Sunny Varkey, Chairman of GEMS Education; Dr Azad Moopen, Chairman of DM Healthcare Group; Rizwan Sajan, Chairman of Danube Group; Syed Salahuddin, Managing Director, ETA Ascon and Star Group; Rajen Kilachand, Chairman and President, Dodsal Group and Mohan Valrani, Sr Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Al Shirawi Group.
“The UAE – a land of opportunity - is also a fertile ground for business and entrepreneurship that has helped hundreds of thousands of businesses to flourish. We are glad to be part of the UAE’s success,” Rizwan Sajan, Chairman of Danube Group, told Gulf News.
“One good aspect of the UAE’s business culture is that it doesn’t discriminate businesses – be it foreign or local, Our success is a testament to that. It’s good to see that the global publications are recognizing this more and more.”
Dr Moopen, a physician-turned entrepreneur who has almost single-handedly built a healthcare empire in 25 years, said, “I consider this ranking as an honour to the entire Indian diaspora who are dedicated, sincere, peace loving and hardworking people with high intellectual capacity.
“I dedicate this honour to my team of around 10,000 employees, working across the GCC and India, who help me touch the lives of over seven million patients a year, and provide care to more than 20,000 patients per day through the DM Healthcare’s network of more than 150 establishments that provide primary, secondary and tertiary care,” he added.
Joy Alukkas Chairman and Managing Director of Joyalukkas Group, said, “The UAE rulers have the foresight and enterprising spirit to encourage and nurture the entrepreneurial spirit of individuals and have created the necessary regulations and infrastructure for people like me to grow and make it big in this great nation. I would hence like to dedicate this honour to the founding fathers and the current leadership of the UAE.”
Forbes also highlighted some of the UAE’s outstanding Indians in senior management positions, who are influencing their enterprises.
The top three positions were filled by Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman of Unilever MENA; V. Shankar, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Europe, Middle East & Africa; and Deepak Babani, CEO of Eros Group. The list includes 17 other outstanding frontrunners.
The global financial crisis of 2008-09 has also shown how finance managers help companies weather the storm. Since 2009, chief financial officers — mostly cost and chartered accountants as well as MBAs — gained more prominence due to their contribution in restructuring the management to help their companies remain resilient.
Five Indian financial wizards — Yuvraj Narayan, CFO, DP World; Surya Subramanium, CFO, Emirates NBD; Deepak Khullar, CFO, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB); Amit Jain, CFO, Emaar Properties PJSC; and Anuj Khanna, CFO, Al Zarooni Group of Companies, made the list.
