Shashi Ruia, cofounder of Essar Group.
Indian tycoon Shashi Ruia—cofounder of the Essar Group, one of the country’s largest conglomerates—passed away on Tuesday at the age of 81.
“An iconic industrialist, Shri Shashikant Ruia, chairman of Essar Group, played a significant role in redefining India’s corporate landscape.” the company said in a statement on Tuesday. “He laid the foundation of the Essar Group and made it a global conglomerate.”
Shashi and his younger brother, Ravi, cofounded Essar Group as construction company in 1970. The company has since grown to become one of India’s largest conglomerates with interests in energy, infrastructure, mining, steel mills, technology and retail. It employs more than 7,000 people across eight countries, generating revenues of $15 billion.
The Ruia brothers were former billionaires with a net worth of $2.2 billion in 2021. They dropped off the Forbes list of India’s 100 richest the following year (after being in the ranks for 15 years) as their companies grappled with debts.
Since 2017, the brothers hasve repaid more than $20 billion in debts by selling several assets including Essar Steel, which was bought by a consortium led by billionaire Lakshmi Mittal’s ArcelorMittal and Japan’s Nippon Steel in 2019. The group sold the assets of Essar Oil to Russia’s Rosneft for $13 billion two years earlier.
