GARSHOM BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AWARD 2018

Mr. Anil Raj is a serial international entrepreneur based in Japan. With just over a decade into entrepreneurship, his businesses today range from Indian chain of restaurants, International Kindergarten school, Travel and Leisure, Imports and Exports and more. Mr. Anil Raj is an ex-techie with over 17 years of experience working in international investment banks like Credit Suisse, Desdner, Japanese Shinsei Bank and Citi Bank. After his MS in 1997, he moved to Indonesia to work for an Indonesian bank as an IT specialist. In 1998 he shifted to Japan working for Credit Suisse and has since worked for other well known banks. It was in 2005,Mr. Anil Raj took the plunge into entrepreneurship along with a full time job in the banks and has successfully cracked the code of success since taking that significant step. His company RAJ GROUP founded in 2005 is based in Tokyo, Japan. He attributes his business success to two simple mantras - create a need or address one. Mr. Anil Raj in one such instance found that Indian restaurants in Japan never served authentic South Indian food. Thus was born NIRVANAM, a south Indian specialty restaurant. Today NIRVANAM is the most awarded Indian chain of restaurants in Japan.

Mr. Anil Raj Manghat is well known amongst the business and political circles in Japan. He is well rooted back home in India as well. He has addressed various forums in India to encourage Indian students and entrepreneurs. He was awarded ‘Future of India Entrepreneur Award’by CNBC - TV 18 in 2016.

Mr. Anil Raj's business enterprises today include the award winning restaurant brand NIRVANAM, which has 4 branches with 3 located in Central Tokyo and 1 in Yokohama area, NIRVANAM was awarded THE BEST RESTAURANT IN JAPAN 6 years in a row, the STARKIDS INTERNATIONAL KINDERGARTEN SCHOOL which he co-founded, a company that imports and distributes Indian products in Japan, MAXROOT, which is into exporting Japanese patented cosmetic products into India, BIZCOOT.COM, a talent network company based out of Bangalore, India and Vivekananda Institute Of Foreign Languages (VIFL), a foreign languages training institute in Hyderabad.

From Palakkad in Kerala, he is ably assisted in business by his wife Divya Raj has a 9 year old son. His parents, Dr. Adv. A. Chandrashekharan and mother Mrs. Shobha Chandrashekharan are settled in Bangalore, India.