Rizwan Sajan’s journey from the crowded lanes of Ghatkopar in Mumbai to becoming Dubai’s richest Indian reads like a modern-day rags-to-riches saga. Today, the 60-year-old billionaire stands atop a business empire worth ₹16,709 crore (US$2 billion), with a personal net worth of ₹20,833 crore (US$2.5 billion), a far cry from his modest beginnings in suburban India.
From Ghatkopar to the Gulf
Born into a middle-class family in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar, Rizwan Sajan’s early life was steeped in struggle. When he was just 16, tragedy struck, his father passed away suddenly, forcing him to abandon school and shoulder the family’s financial burden.Using a small kitty his father had managed to save from his workplace, Sajan began manufacturing box files to keep the household afloat. The business found some success, but money was still tight. “Making ends meet was a daily challenge,” he later recalled.Two years on, fortune smiled in the form of his uncle, who offered him a job in Kuwait. “That was my lottery,” Sajan told Forbes India. In Mumbai, he had been earning around ₹6,000 a month; in Kuwait, his new salary jumped to ₹18,000, roughly 150 Kuwaiti dinars at the time. Starting as a trainee salesman, he worked his way up to a managerial role, with his pay ballooning from 150 to 1,500 dinars. Add a monthly sales commission of nearly 50,000 dinars, and Sajan suddenly found himself living a dream.With his newfound wealth, he bought a Toyota Land Cruiser, purchased a home in Bandra, and even financed his sister’s wedding — milestones that symbolised how far he had come.Then, just as swiftly, the dream collapsed. In August 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, throwing the region into turmoil. Sajan was forced to flee back to Mumbai, abandoning everything he had built. “That was the second turning point in my life,” he said. “I was back to zero.”But as history would prove, it was also the beginning of his greatest ascent.
Building the Danube empire
In 1993, Rizwan Sajan arrived in Dubai with just a few thousand dirhams and a vision. That same year, he founded Danube Group, a modest trading firm dealing in building materials. “It was a brokerage business, where I was making commission,” he later recalled. Before long, he transitioned into full-scale building material trading, a decision that proved transformative.His timing was impeccable. Dubai was on the cusp of a construction boom, and Sajan’s relentless drive positioned Danube at the heart of it. Over the next decade and a half, he steadily diversified the company, laying the foundations of what would become one of the region’s most dynamic business empires.In 2006, Sajan launched Milano, a brand offering sanitary solutions. Two years later came Danube Home in 2008, marking his entry into home furnishings. By 2012, he expanded again with Alucopanel, a venture specialising in aluminium composite panels — followed by the company’s entry into real estate in 2014. “Since then, there has been no looking back,” Sajan told Forbes India.Today, Danube Group has evolved into a diversified conglomerate spanning real estate, building materials, and home décor. Its flagship divisions, Danube Home, Milano, and Alucopanel, operate across India, China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, and Canada, with an annual turnover exceeding US$2 billion (₹16,709 crore).Sajan’s son Adel Sajan now serves as Group Managing Director, while his brother Anil Sajan holds the role of Vice Chairman, steering the next phase of Danube’s expansion.
The 1% plan that changed Dubai real estate
When Sajan entered the real estate sector in 2014, he sought to “democratise luxury” for Dubai’s vast expatriate population, many of whom were renters rather than homeowners. His innovative “1% plan” offered buyers the option to pay just 1% of the property’s value monthly after a small down payment, with the balance due upon completion. “The consumer would have already paid 50–60% by the time the building is ready.” The model made homeownership accessible to thousands of expatriates and reshaped mid-market property sales in Dubai. The success of Danube Properties earned Sajan a 10-year UAE Golden Visa in 2019, recognising his contribution to the nation’s economy.
Accolades and impact
Over the years, Rizwan Sajan has been consistently recognised as one of the Gulf’s most influential business figures. In 2021, he was ranked 12th on Forbes Middle East’s “Top 100 Indian Leaders in the UAE” and received the prestigious Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Excellence Award, honours that cemented his status as a leading name in the region’s business landscape.Since then, Sajan’s wealth and influence have only grown. As of 2025, he stands as the richest Indian in the UAE and is counted among the top ten richest billionaires in the Emirates. His journey, from a modest upbringing in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar to leading a multibillion-dollar empire in Dubai, has become one of the most remarkable rags-to-riches stories in the Gulf. Beyond boardrooms and balance sheets, he founded the Danube Welfare Society, offering free training programmes to help unskilled workers improve their language and technical skills, a gesture that mirrors his own humble beginnings. “The UAE was, and will remain, a land of opportunity,” Sajan has said. “It has helped us foreigners not only develop ourselves, but also contribute to the UAE’s society and economy.”
