Telugu Desam Party's Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, the NRI doctor who took oath as Union Minister of State in the third PM Narendra Modi government on Sunday, is a first-time MP and the richest with declared family assets of more than Rs 5,705 crore.
The 48-year-old was elected from Andhra Pradesh's Guntur constituency, defeating his nearest rival K. Venkata Rosaiah of the YSR Congress by a huge margin of 3.44 lakh votes.
Born in a humble family in Burripalem village of Guntur district, he studied at Narasaraopet Municipal School till Class10 standard and did his intermediate in Guntur. Though he studied in a government school in Telugu medium school, with dedication and excellent performance, he secured 27th rank among 60,000 students who appeared for the EAMCET exam in 1993-94.
After attaining the MBBS degree from Osmania Medical College, he went to the United States for further studies. He completed his post-graduation studies and internal medicine at Geisinger Medical Centre in Pennsylvania.
Later, Chandra Sekhar served as Professor and Physician at Sinai Hospital at Johns Hopkins University for five years. He completed his medical licensing exam in the United States, and at the time, he faced hardships in getting training and accommodation in the US.
To mitigate such hardships for students like him, Chandra Sekhar compiled his training material into a book and made it available to students appearing for the Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE).
His effort to make the study material available to students at the lowest price won him accolades. He was only 25 years old then.
Chandra Sekhar started an online training platform UWorld for medical students attending medical licensing exams in the US. Through this, he earned fame and goodwill in the US. Now, the platform provides training in other areas, such as nursing, pharmacy, finance, Law, commerce, and accounting.
As per the affidavit submitted to the Election Commission, Chandra Sekhar and his wife Koneru Sriratna both are in business. Chandra Sekhar's immovable assets are valued at Rs 2,316.54 crore while that of his wife are Rs 2,289.35 crore. Dependent son Abhinav Pemmasani owns movable assets of Rs 496.27 crore while dependent daughter Sahasra Pemmasani has movable assets of Rs 496.47 crore. The couple jointly have an investment of Rs 2,402.36 crore in publicly listed companies in the US. Chandra Sekhar owns five vehicles worth Rs 6.11 crore including two Mercedes Benz, Tesla Model X and Rolls Royce Ghost.
He has movable assets of Rs 72 crore while the same of his wife are valued at Rs 34.82 crore. He was awarded the "Entrepreneur of The Year Southwest Region " award in 2020. He is also a member of the Forbes Business Council and the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin.
Chandra Sekhar provides medical facilities for NRIs who do not have medical insurance through the Pemmasani Foundation in Dallas. He has helped to accommodate a hundred borewells in Palnadu district of Andhra Pradesh since 2010, establishing Reverse Osmosis plants and overhead tanks and providing drinking water through tankers in Palnadu district to mitigate the water scarcity.
He also provides scholarships for talented students through the Pemmasani Foundation. With an interest in public services, he supported the TDP on behalf of the NRI wing, donated his earnings, and collected funds from NRIs since 2010.
(With inputs from IANS)
