Kerala floods: Meet M A Yusuff Ali, tycoon who sparked talk of UAE's aid

No sooner had Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced UAE's offer, the Centre said 'thanks, but no thanks'

For many, he is the Dhirubhai Ambani of Kerala. For others, he is the most influential Indian in West Asia. M A Yusuff Ali, chairman and managing director of West Asian retail giant LuLu Group International, who was rumoured to have worked behind the scenes for the Jet-Ethihad deal in October 2013, is now back in the limelight in the controversy surrounding the UAE’s reported offer of a Rs 7-billion aid package for flood-hit Kerala.
 
The politics over the purported aid has been frenetic. No sooner had Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced UAE’s offer, the Centre said “thanks,