Vasu Shroff

Vasu Shroff was a Dubai-based Indian businessman and one of the pioneering figures of the Indian business community in the United Arab Emirates. As chairman of the Regal Group, he built a textile trading house rooted in Bur Dubai’s Meena Bazaar district into a diversified conglomerate spanning retail, technology, real estate and investment across the Gulf. Starting from a single trading store, he expanded Regal Traders into a leading textile enterprise with twelve branches across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah, earning the popular title of Dubai’s “textile king.”

Shroff’s influence reached well beyond commerce. Barely a year after settling in Dubai, he was among the key figures who helped establish The Indian High School, which began with nine pupils in a small Bur Dubai apartment and today educates more than 16,000 students across three campuses; he served for a time as an honorary teacher of Hindi and physical education. He was also a former chairperson of India Club Dubai and supported the city’s Hindu temple and cremation facilities over more than six decades of community service.

His contributions were formally recognised: he received India’s Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, the highest honour for overseas Indians, and in May 2019 became one of the first Indians in the UAE to be granted a ten-year golden residency visa. Widely regarded as a doyen of Dubai’s Indian community, Shroff died in April 2026 at the age of 85.

This profile is an independent editorial compilation drawn from the public record — official company and government sources, national honours, and established news coverage. Inclusion is an editorial selection by this journal; it is not an official state honour and is not a comment on anyone’s private affairs or tax matters. Corrections: admin@federaltaxauthority.org.

Part of Recognized contributors to the UAE — this journal’s directory of Emiratis and long-serving expatriates who helped shape the country.