The Rai Group or the Rai family is one of the wealthiest families in Kenya having business interests in sugar milling, paper milling, sugarcane farming, horticulture, manufacturing and real estate.
To begin with, the family owns RaiPly, makers of chipboards, ceilings, block boards, parquet and wooden tiles and polythene bags for sugar companies. The company has spread wings to Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi.
Rai Group also owns West Kenya Sugar and Sukari Industries, making it the second-largest sugar miller in Kenya. In Uganda, the Rai family owns Kinyara Sugar Works through the Sarai Group, which is the biggest sugar miller in the country. Recently, the Sarai Group won the bid to run the Mumias Sugar Company, although the move was temporarily halted by the courts in Kenya.
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Away from sugar milling, the family owns the Menengai Oil Refineries(edible oils, fats and soaps), Timsales (sawmilling), wheat farming, horticulture and real estate (Tulip Properties).
Sarjit Kaur Rai, the wife to the Rai patriarch, Tarlochan Singh Rai, owns 25 percent stake in Lukenya Flowers.
Tarlochan had four sons, Jaswant, Jasbir, Sarbjit and Iqbal Rai and a daughter, Daljit Kaur Hans.
In 2016, the Rai family under Jaswant Rai bought the troubled Pan Paper Mills in Webuye for Ksh900 million. At that time, Pan Paper was worth Ksh18 billion but had a debt of over Ksh10 billion by the time it was placed under receivership in 2009.
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The family wealth dates back to 1960s, when Tarlochan and his siblings bought tea and coffee estates in the Democratic Republic of Congo from Belgians who left after the country attained independence.
In Kenya, they owned Rai Agricultural Estates, which was sold in 1969. The proceeds of the sale were used to incorporate Rai Timber (later RaiPly) in 1971, with his four sons as shareholders.
Tarlochan partnered with a fellow Asian to produce chests for their coffee and tea in Eldoret in the 1970s
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The family later diversified, with the brothers heading the different ventures that emerged. Jasbir Rai and his brother Sarbjit co-own Nile Plywoods (Uganda Ltd) and half of the Sh350 million Polypack Ltd in Kenya.
On the other hand, Tajveer Rai became the managing director of West Kenya Sugar Company alongside being a safari rally driver.
Onkar Rai, also a safari rally driver, is the managing director of Menengai Oil Refineries while Jaswant remains the chairman of the Rai Group.
