Cherukuri Ramoji Rao, the head of the Ramoji film city and the Telugu news and entertainment network ETV, passed away in Hyderabad, Telangana, on 8 June 2024. Ramoji Rao was 87 years old. Ramoji Rao was undergoing treatment at the local hospital and breathed his last in the early hours of 8 June 2024.

Ramoji Rao, the Businessman

Cherukuri Ramoji Rao headed the Ramoji Group, which has diversified business interests in entertainment, retail, and education.

He founded the Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad. It is one of the world’s largest integrated film cities and India's only thematic holiday destination with a focus on cinema.

Ramoji Rao was also a film producer. His Ushakiran movies produced over 80 movies in various languages.

He started the largest circulating Telugu language daily newspaper, Eenadu in Visakhapatnam in 1974.

He also started the ETV network, which has many channels that air in eight languages: Telugu, Bangla, Marathi, Kannada, Oriya, Gujarati, Urdu, and Hindi.

Ramoji owned ETV Bharat is a news platform that offers services digitally via app and web portal. It provides service in over 13 languages and has a reach in 24 states.

Other companies owned by the Ramoji Group include Ramadevi Public School, Priya Foods, Margadarsi Chit Fund and Kalanjali.

Ramoji Rao was also the chairman of Dolphin Group of Hotels in Andhra Pradesh.

Awards and Recognition for Ramoji Rao

Ramoji Rao was conferred India's highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan, in 2016 by President Pranab Mukherjee for his contributions to literature, journalism, and media.

In 2000, he won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu (producer) -Nuvve Kavali.

He also received four Filmfare Awards South and five Nandi Awards,

Philanthropist

Ramoji Rao was also a philanthropist. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he donated Rs 10 crore each to the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers’ Relief Funds.