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| Sugathan, ‘Royal’, Sharja |
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The
young man from Pangode village in Kallara, Thiruvananthapuram, who boarded
the train to Mumbai in 1972 is today the most successful furniture
industrialist of Indian origin in the Gulf.
Sugathan, the young man from the remote village of Kerala
now runs a multinational production and marketing venture with
headquarters in Sharja.
After
spending 7 years in Mumbai, he reached Dubai in 1979.
For the next 8 years he worked in a furniture company under an
Arabi. Even at that time he
dreamt of starting a venture on his own.
In the meanwhile he received a chance to undergo training in Italy,
the land of global giants in furniture field.
Thus
in 1989 he started ‘Royal’ at Ajman with workers one could count on
one’s fingers. In the span of 14 years, Royal has grown from strength to
strength. It’s products are
exported to Middle Eastern countries, Asia and Africa while the production
units are located in U.A.E, India and China.
Although
he is apprehensive about political interferences, out of love for his
native land Sugathan runs branches of his company in Kerala.
In his opinion there are no problems in any of his factories
outside Kerala. The factory at Thenkasy, Tamil Nadu, which started with 15
workers, now employs 500. The
1,00,000 sq.ft. factory is now the breadwinner for the whole village
there.
However,
he is quick to acknowledge that 70% of the workers in his U.A.E.
production unit are Malayalis. In
innovative workmanship and efficiency, Malayalis are way ahead of others,
he testifies.
Even
while globe-trotting on business trips, he is anchored at Sharja with his
wife Suni and children Suji and Sunil.
Courtesy: T.P.Gangadharan, Mathrubhumi, November 24, 2003
Contributed by: Administrator
