The Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, which was targeted by Islamic terrorists last week as part of a bloodbath that killed nearly 150 people, is partly owned by one of Ireland's richest citizens.

Pallonji Mistry took out Irish citizenship last year and has a net worth of $5bn (€3.9bn) according to Forbes magazine.

He and his family own about 18% of Tata Sons,
the holding company for the Tata group, which in turn owns the Taj chain of hotels. The Tata Group made
a profit of about $4bn last year on turnover of $28.8bn.

Pallonji also owns construction company Shapoorji Pallonji group which has built a palace for the Sultan of Oman and facilities in India for Coca-Cola, Volvo and Dell. His wife and sons are also Irish citizens.

Taj Hotels is also involved with Irish developer Howard Eurocape in a five-star hotel being developed in South Africa.

Howard Eurocape, which is owned by Frank Gormley, signed a 50-50 joint venture with the company for the hotel which commenced construction a year ago.

The project will be leased to Taj for 20 years.

International, Page 19