A prominent non-resident Indian (NRI) businessman will host a mass marriage of 107 couples in the Kerala city of Kollam today.

All the couples who will tie the nuptial knot in the presence of several VIPs belong to economically weaker sections, Ravi Pillai, managing director of the multi-billion dollar Naseer S Al-Hajri Corporation (NSH), said.

Pillai’s Ravi Pillai Foundation is organising the event.

Each couple will be given gold ornaments of five sovereigns and Rs25,000 in cash.

The grooms will also get jobs in Pillai’s business conglomerate which is claimed to be the largest Indian employer in the Gulf. A fixed deposit for five years in a joint account for Rs25,000 each will be given to the couples who do not opt for employment abroad.

“We have seen many such mass marriages in Kerla. But this is the first time a philanthropist has taken measures to ensure that they live happily thereafter,” said well-known singer K J Yesudas.

The couples were selected from applications that the Foundation received from the families of weaker sections in the region. The marriage ceremony will be held according to the religious customs of the couples.

Kollam Bishop Stanley Roman, Palayam Imam Jamaludeen Mankada and Sabarimala Tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru will lead the rituals between 11am and 12 noon. City Mayor V Rajendrababu will preside over the function attended by prominent personalities from all communities while N Peethambara Kurup, MP, will welcome the gathering.

Federal ministers Vayalar Ravi, Vilasrao Deshmukh, D Purandeshwari, Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and Congress leader Oommen Chandy will be amonh the VIPs who will attend the event.

The Ravi Pillai Foundation has taken up several charity initiatives in his hometown.

Pillai has already set up the Upasana Hospital and Research Centre in Kollam where the poor receive free medical treatment. He has also donated land to a number of orphanages in Kerala in a continuing contribution to the cause of the humanity.

He is a recipient of Padma Shri, one of India’s highest civilian honours, and the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman.

His company employs 50,000 people in the industrial, contracting and oil refining sectors.