B. Ravi Pillai

Ravi Pillai was born on 2 September 1953 at Chavara, a coastal town in Kollam, in the state of Kerala in Kadappa Pillai Veettil family. He has a degree in Commerce from the University of Cochin. ==Career==

During his time at university, he launched his first business, a chit fund in Kollam on reportedly borrowed money. 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. Two years later, he moved into construction, and established Nasser S. Al Hajri Corporation (NSH) with 150 employees, The shopping mall in South Kerala, RP Mall at Kollam city is owned by Pillai. 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. Kollam, and WelcomHotel Raviz Kadavu, Kozhikode in his home state of Kerala. He is involved in health care through Upasana Hospital and Research Centre, a 300-bed multispecialty hospital in Kollam. ==Awards and recognition==

Pillai received an honorary doctorate from Excelsior College, New York, In 2010, the Government of India included him in the Republic Day honours list for the civilian honour of Padma Shri. Arabian Business ranked him as the fourth most powerful Indian in the Middle East in 2015. after receiving Pravasi Bharatiya Samman ==Personal life==

Ravi Pillai is married to Geetha, and they live in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He paid for his daughter Arathi's wedding with Adithya Vishnu at Kollam in November 2015, at a total expense of ($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. His son Ganesh Pillai married Anjana Suresh, an engineer, in September 2021. ==References==