Rajmohan Pillai

J. Rajmohan Pillai (born 12 May 1964) is an Indian businessman, and is currently the chairman of Beta Group.

Early life Rajmohan Pillai was born in Kerala, India, He gained management experience with his family's business in 1981. The group’s vertical subsidiaries include packaged processed foods manufacturing, marketing, and distribution. The Group also claims interests in entertainment, logistics, and business consulting.

The group began in the early 1900s as Beta Industries, an exporter of cashew nuts. The company is based in the Netherlands.

Pillai's management Pillai's previously declared intentions for the group have included:

waging a "cashew-nut war", matching the price of potato chips marketed by multinational companies in India (2000) entering the pharmaceutical and hospitality sectors (2006) purchasing the Barista Coffee chain (2006) (it was purchased instead by Lavazza) diversification including a million desalination plant in Tamil Nadu (2006) opening an aviation academy in Malaysia (2007) resurrecting the Britannia Amritraj Tennis (BAT) Academy, a former Chennai center of excellence, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, as Beta Ace Technique (BAT) Tennis Academy investing $100 million in Guinea-Bissau's cashew industry (2022) for exports to US and China

Social foundations He was instrumental in establishing the KJP Research Foundation, named in honor of his late father, K. Janardhanan Pillai. The Foundation conducts research and development in the fields of cashew and other horticultural crops. He also established the Rajan Pillai Foundation in memory of his brother Rajan Pillai, to promote excellence in arts, sports, social sciences, and medicine, serving the cause of humanity. The Rajan Pillai Foundation institutes and presents awards to accomplished individuals in international relations, social welfare services, and industry development.

Legal cases Pillai, as Managing Director of Pace International Ltd, was one of four men convicted of fraud over a letter of credit in 2008. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment and fined but appealed the conviction and the sentences have been suspended until the appeal is resolved.

Thesis and publications In 2006, he was awarded a doctorate in business management by the New Age International University of Seborga, Italy, (Penguin Books, 2001, ; subsequently translated and published in five Indian languages). K. Janardhanan Pillaiyude Jeevitham Daivathinte Nadakom – a Malayalam book about the life of Pillai's father. Co-authored with V. S. Nair (Current Books, 2002). The World Cashew Industry – a book detailing all aspects of the production, processing, and trading of cashews. Co-authored with Mrs. P. Santha, a relative and former principal scientist with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (Rajan Pillai Foundation, Kollam, 2008). The book incorporates several chapters of Pillai's thesis. Siddharthan – a novel on the life of Rajan Pillai narrating his material life and spiritual transformation.

Awards and recognition He was awarded the Vayalar Ramavarma Samskarika Vedi award for the year 2019 for his book Siddharthan.

In 2024 he was elected as President of Sport Climbing Federation of India (SCFI).