• Veteran media personality and Ramoji group chairman Ramoji Rao passed away in Hyderabad on June 8. He was 87.

• Ramoji Rao was honoured with Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award, in 2016. He was also a recipient of several other awards and honorary doctorates from various universities.

• He created a sensation in the media industry in undivided Andhra Pradesh. Ramoji Group owns several leading businesses, including Ramoji Film City, ETV Network of TV channels, and the Telugu-language newspaper Eenadu.

• Ramoji Rao was born on November 16, 1936 in Krishna district of coastal Andhra Pradesh.

• He was a versatile genius whose work is unparalleled across various fields like media, hospitality, NBFC, food and retail store chain. 

• Ramoji Rao’s rise to become the founder of Eenadu, the largest circulated Telugu daily, and a tycoon, from humble beginnings is legendary. 

• The firms founded by him — Eenadu newspaper, ETV network of channels, the world’s largest film city Ramoji Film City, Dolphin group of hotels, Margadarsi Chit Fund, film production company Ushakiran movies, Priya Foods and others provided jobs to thousands and continue to impact the lives of millions in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and elsewhere. 

• Ramoji Rao started the Margadarsi Chit Fund in 1962 which serves customers in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and other states. 

• He ventured into the media sector with the launch of ‘Annadata’, a magazine for the peasants, in 1969.

• The Eenadu founded by him in the port city of Visakhapatnam in 1974 revolutionised the newspaper industry in undivided Andhra Pradesh and continues to be the largest circulated Telugu daily with multiple editions. 

• Eenadu became a pioneer in several ways as Ramoji Rao, who is known for his punctuality, had ensured that the newspaper reached readers before sunrise as against a delayed delivery to them. 

• ETV was among the first satellite entertainment channels in Telugu. ETV became a household name within no time. The ETV’s bouquet of channels soon expanded, including ETV news in Telugu and also in Kannada, Bengali, Hindi and others. 

• The Ramoji Film City has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s largest film city. Thousands of films, including S.S. Rajamouli’s famous ‘Bahubali’, in almost all Indian languages and some of the Hindi blockbusters have been shot at the Ramoji Film City on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

• The Priya brand of pickles manufactured by Priya Foods is a household name in several parts of the country and also popular in foreign countries like the US.

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