This Indian tourist just won $1 million in a Dubai raffle

'I came to Dubai in July to visit my sister'

When Indian national Lalit Sharma, 37, visited Dubai for the first time in July, he said he was overwhelmed by the progressive metropolis. Now, he has a richer story to tell - quite literally - after bagging a whopping $1 million (Dh3.67m) in Dubai Duty-Free (DDF) Millennium Millionaire draw held on Tuesday.

Also read: Two Indians will $1m in Dubai raffle on Tuesday

Speaking to Khaleej Times over the phone from his home in Chennai, the capital of South Indian state Tamil Nadu, Lalit said he could not still believe his luck, adding he won the jackpot only on his second attempt.

He shared: "I came to Dubai in July to visit my sister, Preeti Sharma, who is teaching at Amity University. I spent 10 days visiting famous landmarks like Burj Khalifa,  Dubai Frame and my favorite The Dubai Mall."

"I enjoyed my short stay in the city  I really enjoyed what I experienced in Dubai. On my return flight, I bought my first DDF ticket at the airport but I did not win. Then, my sister told me I could try again and purchase another ticket online."

"I picked ticket number 3743 and it was the winning coupon for the draw's Series 311," said Lalit, adding, "Now, my memories of Dubai is not just about its wonderful places and faces but I am also indebted to its generosity to me."

Lalit, who is married with two kids aged 12 and five years old, said he would invest part of his winning to expand his hardware business in Chennai and also to venture into a new business in Dubai, in time for Expo 2020.

He will also share the bounty with his sister and family and likewise do some charity work.

He will return to Dubai with his family on September 25 to collect the prize money which is equivalent to around Rs70 million.

There was another lucky Indian national who won $1 million (Dh3.67M) on Tuesday. Sree Sunil Sreedharan, a resident of Abu Dhabi, won in Series 310 draw with his ticket number 4638. Sree, however, was unreachable as at Press time and would surely be surprised once he hears about the big windfall.