Tributes flow in after hotelier and philanthropist Hari Harilela dies, aged 92

Prominent hotelier and philanthropist Hari Harilela, often dubbed the richest Indian in the city, died yesterday aged 92.

The patriarch of the Harilela family, with about 80 members, rose from a poor background to become one of the best-known entrepreneurs in the region's hotel industry.

Born in Hyderabad, Sindh, in 1922 - in what was then India but is now Pakistan - he moved to Canton, now Guangzhou, with his mother and two brothers in 1930. Once in Hong Kong, he began a tailoring business before later founding the Harilela Group with his brothers in 1959.

The group's hotel portfolio today includes the Holiday Inn Golden Mile and the Intercontinental Grand Stanford, both in Kowloon, as well as various others across Asia, two in Canada and one in London. Harilela's son Aron is the group's chairman.

"[My father] was generous, humble with an open spirit and a forward mind," said Aron.

"He always encouraged me to aspire in all things in life - in learning, in family, in business and also as importantly, with the friends in one's life," he added.

Harilela was highly regarded in the local Indian community.