Mumbai, Jul.10: Well-known NRI businessman and philanthropist Ronald Colaco has been selected as one of the finalists for the prestigious Global NRI of the Year 2017 in the category of philanthropy awarded by leading news channel Times Now. As a shortlisted finalist Ronald Colaco has been invited to participate in the award ceremony which will be held on July 11 at Grand Hyatt Mumbai.

Times Now English news channel, of the leading media conglomerate Times Group, announced its international initiative in 2014 to recognize and award globally successful Indians The awards will be given in 6 different categories-Entrepreneur, Professional, Student, Arts/ Entertainment, Philanthropy and Social Good and contribution to India.

The awards are open to any non-resident Indian, overseas Indian citizens and persons of Indian origin residing in USA, Canada, Singapore, UK, Middle East (including Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait) for more than two years. The awards are given in categories such as - Entrepreneur, Professional, Academics, Art and Culture, Philanthropy, Start Up, India’s global Icon and the Special Jury award. The final winners are selected after a five tier evaluation process which is managed by Ernst and Young, a multinational professional services firm in the world.

Apart from being a successful entrepreneur in his own right, Ronald Colaco has been active in promoting socio-cultural, charitable and philanthropic activities in his Endeavour to give back to the society that he has come from, in a big way. His largesse has benefitted the poor and the needy people and various institutions and organisations irrespective of caste, creed, race, religion and language. He has been a pioneer in providing infrastructure facilities for the benefit of the larger public and has set a precedent for others to follow.

Colaco has been the recipient of a number of national and international awards in recognition of his charitable and philanthropic activities including the prestigious award from the office of The Prime Minister of Australia through CSIA which conferred the “2015 International Recognition Award for Leadership in Service Excellence” at the Australian Service Excellence award ceremony held in Melbourne in 2015, the only person chosen for this prestigious award internationally from among 80 countries. Earlier this year, he became one of the few Indians to have the previlege of being invited to share breakfast with US President Donald Trump in Washington DC.

Many firsts to his Credit
Ronald Colaco has earned the distinction of being the first laity in the entire country to carry out the following charitable activities.

1. Colaco had set a pioneering precedent when he constructed and donated a state of the art and first of its kind, fully equipped, modern police station of 8000 sq ft at Frazer Town, Bengaluru in 2004, a pioneering example that was emulated subsequently by other MNCs and corporates like Infosys, WIPRO, Jindal, etc, leading to the redevelopment of nearly 49 police stations in the capital of Karnataka.This was first by a laity in the entire country to build a complete police station and donate the same to the state capital. This initiative resulted in bringing about considerable behaviour change in the police personnel and improved work efficiency among the police force. This created a history in the country as a pioneering act.

2. In 2012, Ronald Colaco created history when he built and donated a modern era church (Holy Rosary Church Venkatala) in Yelahanka, Bengaluru, having a seating capacity for about 1000 people. By doing so he became the first laity in India in modern times to fully build and donate a church with all furnishings. His contributions in considerable amounts cover over 44 churches.

3. In another first to his credit Ronald Colaco became the first Christian Catholic laity in the entire country to construct and donate a Hindu temple of Lord Muneshwara at Bovipalya of Navaratna Agrahara of Bengaluru North taluk in the year 2000. He is also the single largest donor for redevelopment of Cholas era Chennakeshava Temple at Chikkajala , Muthsalayamma temple at doddajala of Bengaluru north taluk, Suryanarayana temple of south India in Mangalore and his contributions cover over 32 temples including the one famous at Kateel as well as two mosques.

4. When Colaco built and donated the Advocate’s Bhavan in the judiciary complex of Devanahalli, Bengaluru, he etched his name as the first Indian laity in the entire country to contribute to the judiciary of the state government as announced by the High Court Judges and Central Ministers attending the inaugural function.

5. When Colaco built and donated an international standard double road of 2.2 km with four lanes from NH 7 via Navarathna Agrahara Village during 2011, he became the first Indian laity in the entire country in recent times to fully construct and donate a state of the art public road to the state capital that was inaugurated by the then chief minister Sadananda Gowda.

6. He has been instrumental in encouraging Eric Correa with a contribution of four million and the Mangalore diocese with one million for providing houses for the poor which were distributed equally among those chosen from Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities, in a new colony named as Adarsh Nagar in Moodbidri near Mangaluru. In other words, there is no field that has not benefitted from his munificence and he has been consistently involved in charity work over a period of time.

7. He is the brain behind the pioneering efforts in establishing the first ever LINK Counselling and De-addiction Centre in Mangaluru in 1991 and then providing and donating a 60 bedded fully furnished hospital has saved so far more than 22,000 families addicted to variouschemical substance abuses.

8. Ronald Colaco has been very prompt in providing succour to people affected by various natural calamities by donating to various relief funds of the chief minister.

9. He started the International Federation of Karnataka Christian Associations (IFKCA) and opened up nearly 60 units at taluk and district levels, with the help of Denis D’Silva and others. By bringing all denominations together he has encouraged people to get into the electorate and contest elections at various levels and has helped empower the community to get due representation.

10. His charitable and philanthropic work is the result of the solemn decision he had taken at the beginning of his blissful married life wherein he had decided to donate a portion of his income and savings to the poor and the needy and for the betterment of the society in general. He has strictly adhered to that decision and since then has been very enthusiastically abiding by his promise, which has proved beneficial to individuals, various institutions and to the society as a whole.

11. The development of state-of-the-art Townships called Hollywood Town, Swiss Town and Oval Reef near Bengaluru International Airport, apart from promoting a 5 star Hotel, Clarks Exotica Resort and Spa, is the result of his passion to create something worthwhile and he has worked diligently to make a mark, winning a number of national and international accolades and recognitions in the process. By Ronida Mumbai