Bhubaneswar: Founder and CEO of OYO chain Ritesh Agarwal, who hails from Odisha’s Rayagada, is all set to get married next month.
The 29-year-old billionaire recently met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek his blessings for the new journey and extend an invitation to the wedding ceremony.
Agarwal shared pictures of meeting Modi at the PM’s residence in his personal twitter account. He was with his mother and fiance. In one of the pictures, the couple was seen touching the PM’s feet to seek his blessings for a ‘new beginning’.
“With the blessings of Pradhan Mantri @narendramodi ji, we are all set for a new beginning. Words cannot express the warmth with which he received us,” Agarwal wrote.
“My mother, who is inspired by his vision for women empowerment & Geet, from Express (Uttar) Pradesh, was heartened to meet him. Thank you for sparing your valuable time and for your good wishes,” wrote Agarwal.
In another tweet, he said, “Committed to enabling the growth of tourism and entrepreneurship in India across Rayagada, Gir, Ladakh, Rameswaram, Meghalaya and more!.”
According to sources, Agarwal’s wedding reception is slated to be held at a hotel in New Delhi.
Born in a Marwari family in Bissam Cuttack in Rayagada, Agarwal founded OYO Rooms, an online aggregator of budget hotel rooms, at the age of 19 years.
Stated to be the world’s youngest self-made billionnaire, his net worth in 2020 was estimated at around Rs 7,253 crore.
At present, OYO operates in around 800 cities of 80 countries and is considered as one of the fastest-growing hotel chains in the world, sources said.
