NRI Shamsheer Vayalil offers aid to medico victims of Ahmedabad plane crash

Story by ATV | Posted by Aasha Khosa | Date 24-06-2025

Dr. Dr Shamsheer Vayalil

Malick Asghar Hashmi/New Delhi

Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil of Abu Dhabi may no longer be a practicing doctor but his heart beats for his fraternity. The medico-turned-entrepreneur from Kerala has offered monetary compensation for the doctors and trainee doctors who died in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12.

The tragedy involved the London-bound Air India flight exploding and falling over the mess building of BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad just minutes after takeoff from the Ahmedabad airport. Besides 242 passengers and crew on board, four MBBS students and a doctor died in the crash.

While Air India only announced compensation for the families of its passengers, so far there has been no official announcement of relief or compensation for the Medical students and doctors who died in the crash.

Dr Shamsheer receiving an award at Abu Dhabi

At this juncture, the Abu Dhabi-based Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil announced financial assistance of Rs 1 crore each to the families of the deceased students, Rs 20 lakh each to five seriously injured students, and Rs 20 lakh each for the families of doctors who lost their loved ones in the crash.

Interestingly, Dr. Shamsheer has decided to hand over the money not through any institution or government agency, but through the Junior Doctors Association of B.J. Medical College.

He has left it to the discretion of the doctors' association to distribute the compensations.

Dr. Shamsheer receiving Pravasi Bhartiya Samanman from President Pranab Mukherjee

According to Forbes (Magazine), Dr. Shamsheer's real-time net worth is more than Rs 6,22,25 crore. He is the founder and chairman of Burjeel Holdings, which operates a huge network of hospitals, clinics and pharmacies in the Middle East.

Born in a business family in Kerala, Shamsheer moved to the Middle East after completing his medical studies. He started working as a radiologist at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi. In 2007, he started LLH Hospital in Abu Dhabi in collaboration with his father-in-law and famous Gulf industrialist M.A. Yusuf Ali.

Today, the Burjeel Group operates 16 hospitals, 24 medical centers, pharma manufacturing units, and several healthcare ventures spread across India and the Gulf.

He operates brands like RPM, Lifepharma, Lakeshore Hospital, and EduCare Institute through the Vayalil family office VPS Healthcare.

Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil receiving an honour at AMU

Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil's humane side is not new to those who know him. Alongside his vast business empire, he has launched initiatives such as 100 free heart surgeries, breast cancer screening, health check-up camps for workers, etc.

Dr. Shamsheer has also launched disaster relief, helped the underprivileged, and worked on spreading health awareness across the UAE, Africa, and the Indian subcontinent.

He is the recipient of several national and international awards such as the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (2014), Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Humanitarian Service Award, Honorary Doctorate of Aligarh Muslim University, Arab Health International Leadership Award (2012), and Ernst & Young 'Entrepreneur of the Year' (2011).

He has also been on the boards of the UAE Medical Council, Sharjah University Medical College, NRI Commission (Kerala), and Kannur International Airport. Dr. Shamsheer believes that “there should be no walls of religion, caste or nationality in humanitarian service… suffering is not just of the sufferer, it is of all of us.”