Praful Patel, a Member of Parliament (Rajya sabha) was born on the 17th of February, 1957 in Kolkata. At the youthful age of 33 years, Praful Patel was elected thrice consecutively to the Lok Sabha i.e. the 10th, 11th and 12th Lok Sabha. Again in 2009 he was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha for the fourth time. In between, Praful Patel was elected twice to the Rajya Sabha in 2000 and 2006.
In his long Parliamentary career he has been a member of several Parliamentary Committees, notably Finance, Civil aviation, Environment and Forests, Foreign Affairs to name a few. He was the Chairman of the Indo-UK Parliamentary Forum and Founder Member of the Indo-US Parliamentary Forum.
Praful Patel was awarded the CAPA (Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation) Aviation Minister of the year 2005. This award honours the National Minister in the Asia Pacific Region who has contributed the most to the progress of aviation in the region. The leading news magazine India Today, ranked Praful Patel as No.1 Minister in 2006. He was awarded the Economic Times Reformer of the year Award in 2007.
Son of Late Shri Manoharbhai Patel, Praful Patel graduated in Commerce prior to joining the family business with diverse interests in Bidis, Tobacco, Pharmaceuticals, Finance, Real Estate, Packaging etc., eventually heading the group known as the “Ceejay Group” .
Praful Patel inherited his passion for politics and social service from his father who was a senior leader of the Congress in Maharashtra and a great philanthropist. The Patel family runs the ‘Gondia Education Society’ in the Gondia district of Maharashtra the way for youngsters to become a self-reliant by imparting education to 1,10,000 students in all disciplines ranging from Arts, Commerce, Engineering, Law, Pharmacy, Information Technology, Computer Sciences etc.
Other than Politics and Business, Praful Patel is an ardent sportsman. He is the President of All India Football Federation and Member Executive Committee Asian Football Confederation. He is also an active member of Young Presidents Organisation (YPO) and various other social organisations.
