First gen entrepreneur, Essar co-founder Shashi Ruia dies

Ruia and his brother turned a small construction business into an infra conglomerate

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Shashikant Ruia, a first-generation entrepreneur who turned a small construction business into an infrastructure conglomerate, died after a prolonged illness. He was 80. Shashi Ruia, as he was fondly called, co-founded the metals-to-technology conglomerate Essar with his brother Ravi.

Ruia, who would have turned 81 next month, died in Mumbai around midnight. He had returned from the US, where he was undergoing treatment, about a month back.

"It is with profound grief that we inform of the passing of Shri Shashikant Ruia, Patriarch of the Ruia and Essar Family," the Ruia family said in a statement.