Prem Ganapathy is an Indian entrepreneur and businessman. He is the founder of the restaurant chain
Dosa plaza
Dosa plaza is a chain of fast food restaurants specializing in South Indian cuisine dosa. It was founded by Prem Ganapathy in 1997. Dosa plaza operates 72 outlets in India, New Zealand, Oman UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَل ...
.
Starting with meager investment, he expanded Dosa plaza into a restaurant chain with 72
outlets in
India,
New Zealand,
Oman, and
UAE.
Early life
Ganapathy was born in Nagalapuram in
Thoothukudi district in the state of
Tamil Nadu. He had seven siblings.
Ganapathy completed class X after which he left for
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
(now
Chennai) in search of a job. He did multiple jobs in
Chennai before running away to
Bombay (now
Mumbai) in 1990. Ganapathy was stranded in Bombay with no money and no knowledge of the local language. He started working in a bakery with the help of a
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nati ...
family.
Career
In 1992, Ganapathy started his own food business, selling
idlis and
dosas
A dosa, also called dosai, dosey, or dosha, is a thin pancake in South Indian cuisine made from a fermented batter of ground black lentils and rice. Dosas are popular in South Asia as well as around the world. Dosas are served hot, often with ...
in a handcart opposite the
Vashi railway station.
In 1997, he rented a shop and started experimenting with various varieties of dosas. In 2003, he opened his first outlet in a mall in Center One Mall at Vashi.
As of 2012, Dosa plaza has 45 outlets in 4 countries serving more than 100 varieties of dosas.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ganapathy, Prem
1973 births
Living people
Businesspeople from Tamil Nadu
Tamil entrepreneurs