Indian billionaire Dhananjay Datar of Al Adil Trading gets 10-year UAE visa

Billionaire businessman Dhananjay Datar, chairman and managing director of Al Adil Trading, which trades in Indian spices, received his long term 10-year UAE residency visa on Sunday.

Datar received a call from General Directorate of Residence and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) on Wednesday to submit his company profile and documents. The next day he was asked to collect his long-term visa from the office of Major-General Mohammad Ahmad Al Merri on Sunday.

Speaking to Gulf News, Datar said he was elated. His family - wife, Vandana, and sons, 24-year-old Hrishikesh and 22-year-old Rohit - have not received their visas as they are not on dependent visas. “I am extremely grateful for this recognition. My life changed for the better here in the UAE. This country has given me more than I imagined and the visa is like an icing on the cake."

"My family is [on] the company visa so they have not received the long-term visa. Only I have received it so far.”

Datar found his success in the UAE; he went from walking barefoot to school in India to driving a bespoke $2 million (Dh7.36 million) Rolls-Royce Phantom in the UAE. Today, Al Adil Trading is a household name. The company, dealing with more than 9,000 products, recorded an annual turnover of Dh750 million at the end of 2018.

Datar joins a list of other Indian businessmen to be awarded the long-term residency visa.

Since May 22 other businessmen have received their new stamped visas. Vasu Shroff, chairman- Regal Group of Companies, Khushi Khatwani, managing director, Khushi Group of companies & Al Nisr Cinema Film, Rizwan Sajan, chairman of Danube, Lulu chairman M.A. Yousuf Ali being some of them.

Others such as Ram Buxani, Dr. Azad Moopen are also on the coveted list.