Joy Alukkas
Joy Alukkas (born Alukkas Varghese Joy; 29 October 1956) is an Indian businessman from Kerala. He is the chairman and managing director of Joyalukkas Jewellery, founded in 1988. In 2018, Forbes Middle East ranked Joy Alukkas among the Top Indian Leaders in the region. He received the Dubai Quality Appreciation Award from Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and the ‘Business Excellence Award’ from Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Culture, Youth and Social Development. Early life. Joy Alukkas was born in Thrissur , Kerala, on 29 October 1956. His father, Varghese Alukkas was a renowned jeweller and started his first jewellery showroom in 1956. Career. In 2007, he opened the world's largest gold & diamond jewellery showroom, and the first Diamond Cave, in Chennai, India. Other businesses headed by Joy Alukkas include Mall of Joy, a shopping retail destination, Jolly Silks, a silk fashion label,Joyalukkas Exchange, a money exchange platform, and Joyalukkas Lifestyle Developers, a real estate company. Philanthropy. Initiatives such as the Blood Donor's Forum hold donation drives for employees in association with leading hospitals, whereas the Joy 4 Earth  program undertakes several environmental projects. Under the My 0.50 drive scheme, every employee donates 0.50 fils of their salary each day towards a cause, which Joy Alukkas matches on an equal scale. In May 2018, Joyalukkas donated Rs. 20 million as a relief fund for victims of the Cyclone Ockhi. After the devastating Kerala Floods in September 2018, the Joyalukkas Foundation announced that it would build 250 houses for those who have lost their homes.