Keralites dominate the list with 10 in Top 15

Abu Dhabi: Forbes Middle East unveiled the Top Indian Leaders in the Middle East, recognizing the achievements of the Arab world’s most successful Indian business leaders.

The 30-member list is dominated by business personalities based in the UAE, with nearly half of them hailing from the Indian state of Kerala.

Yusuffali MA, Chairman of Lulu Group tops the list followed by Renuka Jagtiani of the Landmark Group, Sunny Varkey of GEMS Education, Sunil Vaswani, Ravi Pillai, PNC Menon and Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil among others.

Though the list is dominated by veteran business leaders, inclusion of new generation business owners like Adeeb Ahamed of Lulu Financial Holdings is a great recognition for the young generation Malayalee business leaders who are making an impact in the Middle East.

There are eight billionaires of Indian origin based in the Middle East, and some of the largest homegrown brands in the region were started by Indian expats featured in Forbes’ list, including Lulu Hypermarket, which is owned by billionaire Yusuff Ali.

The 2021 edition of the list included business leaders from various sectors like retail, industrials, healthcare, banking and finance.