Shaji Ul Mulk
| Shaji Ul Mulk | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Shaji Ul Mulk India |
| Residence | UAE |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Education | Venkateshwara University |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Organization | Mulk Holdings |
Shaji Ul Mulk is the Founder and Chairman of Mulk Holdings, a multinational group of companies with diversified business interests in manufacturing metal. He is the seventh most powerful Indian in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). A keen cricket promoter and the only Indian member on the Emirates Cricket Board. He has been linked with possible investments in Harare in real estate, hotels and sports facilities to be known as Zim Cyber City in Mount Hampden and also exploring same investments in Victoria Falls.[1]
Background
Ul Mulk hails from the aristocratic family of Nawabs of Kurnool, a district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The family claims to have about $700m worth of land and assets in India. As a young student, Mulk went to Dubai from India in 1982 to join his brother-in-law’s business and save up enough money to continue his education at an American business school. He saved up $30,000 within a year of landing in Dubai, but decided not to accept the offer to study at Wharton’s Business school and instead pursued an entrepreneurship journey in the UAE. The Mulk Holdings group, of which he is the chairman, now has diversified interests in aluminium composite manufacturing, real estate, plastics, renewable energy and even sports. But the most lucrative opportunity may have arisen last month, when its healthcare division announced that it was setting up the Middle East’s first e-hospital which will comprise of a network of 2,000 doctors.[2]
Business Interests
His Sharjah-based multi-conglomerate Mulk Holdings is best known for its flagship brand, Alubond USA, the world’s largest metal composite brand and first aluminium composite panel in the UAE market. Mulk Holdings is a multinational conglomerate with diversified business interests spanning primarily four sectors – Construction, Renewable Energy, Plastics and Health Care.
Alubond suffered a blow in 2016 when it temporarily halted production of its panels following a high-profile fire at The Address Downtown Dubai on December 31, 2015. The building’s exterior was made from Alubond cladding. However, the company moved quickly to introduce a fire-resistant version, produced at its facility in Turkey, and has since signed a deal to set up three new production plants at a new $50m facility in Sharjah, intended to be the world’s largest single location for ‘A2’ fire-resistant panels.
Parent company Mulk Holdings has other diverse business interests including healthcare, real estate, trading and commodities as well as aluminium coil coatings, solar energy and energy generation. It employs 7,000 people across Europe, the US, Russia, India, Pakistan and the Middle East.
This year, Mulk Holdings acquired a 50 percent stake in Mumbai-based tiles manufacturer Mirage Ceramics in lieu of $15.5m. Mirage Ceramics plans to use the funding to upgrade its manufacturing facilities and ramp up production. The conglomerate plans to invest around $155.8m in India in the next few years.
Ul Mulk tells Arabian Business that the company is expanding aggressively, with new investments being made in an ultra-modern paint manufacturing facility in the UAE; a $20m manufacturing plant in Serbia; expansion of the plastic division, Metal Plast; and participation in the Indian government’s Make in India programme to encourage multinational and local companies to manufacture their products in India.[3]
Zim Cyber City
President Emmerson Mnangagwa commissioned the US$500 million Cyber City project in Mount Hampden, Harare on Wednesday 20 July 2022 after Dubai-based billionaire Shaji Ul Mulk pledged to fund the project. Ul Mulk told NewsDay that the project would include villas, cyber technology offices, shopping malls and construction of the tallest tower in Africa to be called Mulk Towers, as well as recreational facilities, which would all be constructed on 2,5 million square metres of land.
The envisioned city, meant to decongest Harare, drew land from Zvimba Rural District Council, Mazowe Rural District Council and Harare and is near the recently-completed Parliament building. The new Parliament building is the first arm of government to be located in the area. The first phase of the project would be completed in the next two years.[4]
Net Worth
Shaji Ul Mulk, with a personal net-worth of $2.7 billion and whose company – Mulk Holdings enjoys a global annual turnover of $1.8 billion.
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