UAE-based billionaire Yusuff Ali M.A has set aside nearly Dh4 million to help Indian nationals who have been affected by the devastating floods and rains that hit Kerala.

Yusuff Ali M.A., the retail tycoon who owns LuLu hypermarkets, confirmed on Sunday that he has just donated Rs5 crores (Dh2.56 million) to the Kerala chief minister’s relief fund.

The money is intended to extend assistance to the millions of individuals who have been displaced by the floods.

He had also donated 2 crores (Dh1 million) to two publications in Kerala last week, to help fund their ongoing initiatives to assist flood victims, bringing his calamity assistance to a total of Dh3.5 million.

Flash floods in Kerala have killed a number of people and left thousands homeless. As of the latest count, a total of 37 people have lost their lives and 36,000 more have been displaced.

“This is one of the worst times for Kerala and my heart goes out to the people whose suffering are beyond imagination,” the Indian businessman, who is also from Kerala, said.

“I just pray and hope that we all come together at these testing times and do whatever we can to bring some solace to the lives of millions of our brothers and sisters.”

Yusuff Ali is one of the world’s richest billionaires with net worth estimated to be around $3.9 billion as of Sunday.  He left his hometown in Kerala in 1973 to help with a relative’s business in Abu Dhabi.

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