Puthan Naduvakkatt Chenthamaraksha Menon, also known as P. N. C. Menon (born 17 November 1948) is an Omani businessman born in

Palakkad Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. He is the founder and chairman of

Sobha Ltd Sobha may refer to: Places * Sobha, Algeria, a town and commune in Chlef Province * Sobha, Nepal, a village development committee * Sobha Hi-tech city, a proposed township in India People * Sobha Brahma (1929–2012), Indian painter and scul ...

(Formerly Sobha Developers Ltd)& Sobha LLC.

Early life

P. N. C. Menon was born on 17 November 1948 in the Puthan Naduvakkatt house. He grew up and studied in

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

, where his father was doing business. At the age of 10, he lost his father and had to shoulder the responsibility of providing for his family. Financial struggles forced him to abandon his studies after primary education. He dropped out of

Sree Kerala Varma College Sree Kerala Varma College is a government-aided higher education institution located in Kanattukara, Thrissur, Kerala, India. Established in 1947, the college was founded by Aikya Keralam Thampuran, the Maharaja of the former Kingdom of Cochi ...

, to launch an interior decoration business without completing his education.

Biography

At the age of 26, he left

for

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

, where over the years he developed his interior decoration business into a profitable venture. In 1995, he started Sobha Ltd. in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

named after his wife. He is married to Sobha and they have three children: two daughters, Bindu and Revathi, and one son Ravi Menon The turning point in his career came in the 1990s when Menon identified the opportunities and potential in the real estate sector. He contributed towards building iconic structures like Oman's

Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque () is the List of largest mosques, largest mosque in Oman, located in the capital city of Muscat. Construction In 1992, the then List of rulers of Oman, Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said Al Said, directed that his ...

and Al Bustan Palace. In 2009, he was honoured with the

Pravasi Bharatiya Samman The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (Overseas Indian Award) is the highest Indian award for Overseas Indians or an organisation or institution established and run by Overseas Indian diaspora, constituted by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Go ...

by the

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

Philanthropy

P. N. C. Menon established the Sri Kurumba Educational & Charitable Trust in 1994, a year before he founded Sobha Developers. The trust adopted

KANNAMBRA Kannambra is a gram panchayat in the Palakkad district, state of Kerala, India. It is the local government organisation that serves the villages of Kannambra-I and Kannambra-II. According to William Logan in the 1700s, only Kannambra Vela an ...

Vadakkencherry Vadakkencherry () is a town and gram panchayat in the Palakkad district, state of Kerala, India. It is located about 35 km from Palakkad along National Highway 544. Vadakkencherry-Mannuthy section of NH-544 is the Roads in Kerala, first six ...

and

Kizhakkancherry Kizhakkancherry is a gram panchayat in the Palakkad district, state of Kerala, India. It is a local government organisation that serves the villages of Kizhakkencheri-I and Kizhakkencheri-II. It was formed in the year of 1951 and is the fourth ...

- three Panchayats each consisting 2 villages in Palakkad district, Kerala, his native state, in 2006. In the adopted villages, the trust helps families with very low monthly income and provides education to children from 2,500 poor families (about 11000 people). In 2016, Menon and his wife Sobha joined

The Giving Pledge The Giving Pledge is a charitable campaign, founded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, to encourage wealthy people to contribute a majority (i.e. more than 50%) of their wealth to philanthropic causes. , the pledge has had 236 signatories from 28 ...

list a philanthropic initiative started by

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist who currently serves as the chairman and CEO of the conglomerate holding company Berkshire Hathaway. As a result of his investment success, Buffett is ...

, former

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

chairman

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...

and his then-wife

Melinda Melinda is a feminine given name. Etymology The modern name ''Melinda'' is a combination of "Mel" with the suffix "-inda". "Mel" can be derived from names such as Melanie meaning "dark, black" in Greek, or from Melina meaning "sweet like honey ...

. In February 2024, Menon contributed INR 110 million (USD 1.3M) to the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi, UAE with the aim to support the ongoing construction and upkeep of the temple, marking a significant milestone in the project.

Awards and honours

*2015: Arabian Indian Czar Award from News Channel Times Now * 2015: Management Leadership Excellence Award from Calicut Management Association *2014: Golden Peacock Lifetime Achievement Award for Business Leadership from Golden Peacock Awards * 2014: Dhanam Lifetime Achievement Award from Business Magazine Dhanam * 2014: Featured among top businessmen on Faces of UA
PNC Menon
(formerly Faces of Dubai) * 2014: Excellence in Business Award for corporate Social Responsibility by The Times of India * 2013: Business Man of the Year from State Forum of Bankers Clubs Kerala *2013: 4th Rank in Top 100 Indians in UAE by

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

* 2013: Lifetime Achievement Award, from

NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. It was founded in 1984 by economist Prannoy Roy and journalist Radhika Roy. NDTV began as a production house for news segments, ...

* 2012: Special Recognition for "Dedicated Service to Civil Engineering and the Construction Industry" - Civil-Aid Techno Clinic Pvt. Ltd. *2009:

, by the Government of India

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menon, P. N. C. Living people 1948 births Businesspeople from Thrissur Indian industrialists Indian emigrants to Oman Omani billionaires Recipients of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman