Sundar Menon

T.A Sundar Menon (Thekke Adiyat Sundar Menon) is a Qatar-based Indian entrepreneur and philanthropist. Being the founder and CEO of Sun group international, Menon is more indulged in various philanthropic and socio economic activities within Kerala and among the migrant workforce of UAE. He was honored with Padmashri by the Government of India in the year 2016.

Sundar Menon
Born (1962-03-08) 8 March 1962
Thrissur, Kerala, India
NationalityIndia
OccupationFounder & CEO of Sun Group International
Spouse(s)Syama Sundar Menon
Children2
Parent(s)M.C.S. Menon, Jaya Menon
AwardsPadma Shri

Early Life and Education

Sundar Menon was born in 1962 to M.C.S. Menon, retired assistant general manager in South Indian Bank and the Principal of South Indian Bank Staff Training College, who was also the former Cochin Devaswom Board President from the year 2010 to 2012, and Jaya Menon, a home maker in Thrissur, Kerala, India.

Menon did his graduation in Economics and has a post-graduation degree in MBA. European Continental University(EUC-USA) awarded him with Honorary Doctorate for his contributions towards the economic development of GCC.

Career

Menon’s career started as a business executive in the British Oil Field Service Company based in Doha. He then moved on to a leading transportation company where he actively contributed to its growth and eventually served as a partner of the firm. Thirty years later, in 1986, he founded the Sun Group International with branches in UAE, Qatar, Panama and India. The prominent business interest of Sun group includes energy, petrochemicals, natural resources, transportation and trading sector. Later the group have diversified the business into real estate development and mass media.

Philanthropy

Menon’s philanthropic activities started with the Sun Charitable Trust which aims at providing the health and educational support to under privileged members of the society, especially the differently abled people. The trust also contributes medical equipment to government as well as other charitable hospitals. The trust also supports the health service, education and provide livelihood opportunities to the tribal and rural population of Kerala. The trust has organized mass weddings for girls from economically backward family and also provided shelter homes and medical care facilities to the homeless widows. Not only to Sun Charitable Trust but also he remains as the backbone of severally other charitable organizations working in different fields. He also takes keen interest on socio- cultural activities in order to support financially weak and disabled artists. These organizations also conduct classical dance festivals, film festivals and promotion and restoration of temple arts.

Menon’s contributions are not limited within Kerala. Menon has done remarkable contributions to the recreation of Mahatma Gandhi’s sand portrait at India Gate. Rehabilitation of children and monks in Uttarakhand after 2013 flood was also well supported by Menon’s hidden hands. In accordance with Prime ministers Swachh Bharat Mission, Menon led a remarkable breakthrough by setting up a modern waste disposal system in the Thrissur city market. He is also a part of the tree plantation and maintenance drive with the city of Thrissur, Kerala. Menon is the President of Kerala State Elephant Owner’s Cooperative Society. Being an elephant lover, Menon has put his seamless effort in adopting methods for elephant care and also in developing an elephant care center in Thrissur. Several welfare activities for elephant owners and mahouts were also organized with his initiative. Sundar Menon is the patron of Pravasi Malayali Federation, which has its headquarters in the United States. Apart from that he is also a member of around 40 other organizations within Middle East and other countries. He has also made his active participation in the cultural conglomeration of the Indian community in Middle East. He also serves as a member of Regional Advisory Committee of Indian Council for Cultural Relation, an autonomous organization run by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.

Awards and Recognitions
  • Padma Shri Award by the Government of India on 31 March 2016
  • Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Award in 2015[1]
  • Indo British Business Excellence Award[2]
  • Forbes magazine Top Indian leaders in the Middle East and UAE[3]
  • TGM Award for Maritime Solutions and Philanthropy-AMMA Award 2015[4]
  • Arabian Business Award in 2012[5]
  • Kerala State Vyapari Vyavasayi Samithi Business Excellence Award[6]
  • Golden Honour Award for Excellence in Profession and Social Commitment from Kerala Kalakendram (Society for Socio-Cultural Research and Development)

Personal life

Menon is married to Shyama Sundar Menon and have two children. His son Sanjay.S. Menon is the Director of Sun Group International, Sharjah, UAE. His daughter Swathy Sundar is married to Praveen Kumar.

References
  1. "Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Award". asianentrepreneur.org.
  2. PTI (20 November 2015). "M K Muneer, PTM Sunish bag Indo-British award". India Today. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  3. "profile section". forbesmiddleeast.com.
  4. "AMMA Award 2015". ammafoundation.com.my.
  5. "REVEALED: The Gulf's 100 most powerful Indians". arabianbusiness.com.
  6. "Padmashri Dr. Sundar Menon". uae.malayali.directory.
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