V. G. Panneerdas was the founder of VGP Group of Companies. His story is one of the rags to riches. He started as a poor Christian man from a remote village called Azhagappa puram near valliyur

Valliyur

Valliyur or Vallioor is a panchayat union in Radhapuram taluk in Tirunelveli district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.Valliyur is one of the fastest growing towns in Tirunelveli district. This town is located along NH 7. It gets its name from the goddess Valli, consort of Lord Murugan...

, Tirunelveli

Tirunelveli

Tirunelveli , also known as Nellai , and historically as Tinnevelly, is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of the Tirunelveli District and the sixth biggest city in Tamil Nadu...

 district in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. He moved to Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

 in search of opportunities. In 1955, he opened a shop selling items such as alarm clocks, watches and wall clocks. He was the pioneer in South India to introduce Hire Purchase for every day goods. He built the VGP company from virtually nothing to its present status as a group of companies including retail, real estate and property development, resorts and amusement parks (including VGP Universal Kingdom

VGP Universal Kingdom

'VGP Universal Kingdom' is an amusement park located in East Coast Road in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The park offering small rides during the early days of its history became a full-fledged amusement park in 1997. The park provides several fun and adventure rides for children, youth and adults...

), and video and audio studios.