Azad Moopen

Azad Moopen (born 15 April 1953 in Kalpakancheri, Kerala) is an Indian physician and philanthropist, and a developer of healthcare facilities in Asia-Pacific. He is the chairman and managing director of Aster DM Healthcare, a healthcare conglomerates in the Middle East and India founded in 1987. In 2010 and 2011, he was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman and Padma Shri by the Government of India, respectively. According to Forbes, he is ranked 6th in the Top 100 Indian Leaders in UAE list, and according to Arabian Business, 29th in the 50 Richest Indians in the GCC, with the total wealth estimated to approximately $1.1 bln Forbes 2015).

Early life and education

Azad Moopen was born in 1953 in an Indian village Kalpakancheri in Malappuram district of Kerala. His family owned a bulk of land in the area of Kalpakancheri, a part of Valluvanad in Southern Malabar. His father, Ahmed Unni Moopen, was involved in the freedom struggle during the 1940s. Azad Moopen passed the MBBS with a gold medal and an MD in general medicine from the Calicut Medical College, Kerala, and a diploma in chest disease from Delhi University.