Mecca Rafeeque Ahmed is an Indian businessman and entrepreneur from

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. He is a recipient of 2011

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

Award.

Career

Ahmed's father, Haji Mecca Abdul Majid Sahib, started the Farida Prime Tannery in 1957. He named it after the youngest of his nine daughters and started it with Rs. 1.5 million from his savings and bank loans. Rafeeque Ahmed started his career in 1958 and took over full control of the business after his father's demise in 1965. Under his guidance, the ''Farida Group'' has grown from a tannery to many shoemaking and tannery divisions.

Social service

The company

Farida Group Farida Group is one of the largest leather manufacturing companies in India based in Chennai. The Group has 13 factories spread across Asia, Africa and Europe It was founded by Abdul Majid Sahib in 1957 in Ambur. Growth The company has been ra ...

has a presence in Vellore district and has created thousands of jobs for the locals. They process about 80,000 sq. feet of hide and manufacture about 23,000 pairs of shoes and 3,500 pairs of shoe-uppers per day. They employ nearly 9,000 people.

Awards and honours

Mecca Rafeeq Ahmed is a recipient of the 2011

Award, India's fourth-highest civilian award. He was also awarded an honorary degree by Hindustan Institute of Technology & Science in 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Mecca Rafeeque Living people People from Tamil Nadu Tamil businesspeople Recipients of the Padma Shri in trade and industry Indian leather industry Year of birth missing (living people)