Siddharth Balachandran, the UAE-based entrepreneur who has been announced the winner of this year’s Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA), is a familiar face in the Indian business and equally prominent in the UAE for his philanthropic activities.

Currently serving as the Chairman of India Club, Balachandran is also the founding member of the India Club in Dubai and the Patron Governor of the Indian Social and Cultural Centre in Abu Dhabi.

He is the executive chairman and CEO of Buimerc Corporation, a diversified multi-region and multi-business conglomerate approved as FPI by SEBI with Head Quarters in DIFC, Dubai, as well as a member of the board of governors of PIOCCI, GCC.

The entrepreneur, who is a member of the governing board of the Indian Business and Professional Council (IBPC) in Dubai, also serves as the Director of Chinmaya International Residential School (CIRS) in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

He completed his school education at Chinmaya School in Ernakulam and has a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) from Bapuji Institute of Engineering and Technology, Davangere, Mysore University.

Balachandran also completed a Master’s Programme in International Business, at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi, in collaboration with the PSG Institute of Management, Coimbatore.

He completed an Advanced Management Programme from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.