Salil Panigrahi, founder and Managing Director of Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts, has been conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, the highest honour conferred on overseas Indians.

Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards are conferred by the Indian president as part of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention on Non-Resident Indians, Persons of Indian Origin or an organisation/institution established and run by the Non-Resident Indians or Persons of Indian Origin in recognition of their outstanding achievements both in India and abroad.

The 16th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention was held virtually on Saturday. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the convention.

The 2021 Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards were conferred by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention in the valedictory session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations.

A jury-cum-awards committee, with Indian Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu as the Chairman and External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar as the Vice-Chair and other distinguished members from various walks of life considered the nominations for the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards 2021 and unanimously selected the awardees.

Salil was recognised with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award in the field of tourism.

A Chartered Accountant from India, Salil started his career about 25 years back at Oberoi Hotels & Resorts in the finance department. His forte lies at the intersection of two very diverse skills – an intuitive understanding of numbers (thanks to his CA background) and a passion for visual design.

Salil believes his life revolves around his passion for people, their needs and aspirations. As an entrepreneur, he also understands that it is not only about delivering guest experiences but also meeting the expectations of shareholders, colleagues and partners.

After his stint at Oberoi, Salil worked at Six Senses Group, founded by Indian-British hotelier Sonu Shivdasani. He led the Finance Department there but was also responsible for several different functions including project management for resort construction and launch.

In early 2003, Salil partnered with investors from the Maldives to form EoN Resorts, a company that engaged in resort development and consultancy for luxury resorts in the Indian Ocean holiday destination.

At EoN, Salil spearheaded the development and launch of several iconic resorts including OZEN Reserve Bolifushi, Constance Halaveli, Six Senses Laamu, among several others.

In 2012, Salil wanted to embark on his next phase and launched with his Maldivian partners a brand called Atmosphere, to partially own but primarily take on management contracts of resorts within the Indian Ocean.

Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts offers guest-centric resort experiences through unique resort plans, offering guests a range of all-encompassing experiences, with varieties of dining options as well as a number of complimentary amenities and activities that ensure a relaxed, hassle-free holiday experience at each resort, all the while staying true to the brand’s core philosophy: ‘The Joy of Giving’.

Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts’ first property, Atmosphere Kanifushi, opened its doors in December 2013. The group opened its second property, OBLU by Atmosphere at Helengeli in November 2015; followed by OZEN Life Maadhoo in July 2016; OBLU Select at Sangeli in July 2018; and VARU by Atmosphere in October 2019.

In 2020, Atmosphere launched The OZEN Collection, an award-winning, uber-lux hospitality brand.

OZEN resorts offer ultimate privacy blended with signature luxury aesthetics, for blissfully immersive holidays in pristine, Indian Ocean locations.

OZEN Maadhoo, the first resort under the brand, opened in July 2016. OZEN’s success story continues in the Maldives with the addition of OZEN Reserve Bolifushi, which opened in December.

OZEN Life Tangalle takes the brand to the south coast of Sri Lanka and is scheduled to be launched in 2023.