Anilkumar Bolla is a 29-year-old Indian IT professional from Khammam district in Telangana. On 18 October 2025 he won Dh100 million (about ₹240 crore) in the UAE Lottery, the biggest lottery prize ever awarded in the UAE. He had been living in Abu Dhabi for about 18 months. His ticket in Lucky Day Draw No. 251018 matched all seven numbers, which made him the first person to win the UAE Lottery's Grand Prize. He is still the only Dh100 million winner, because the prize was scrapped after the last Dh100 million draw on 29 November 2025.
He's back in the news because of the first anniversary of his win. On 22 October 2026, Gulf News, Khaleej Times and several Indian outlets published "one year later" interviews with him, and The UAE Lottery posted about the anniversary. Below we cover who the Anilkumar Bolla UAE lottery winner is, how he picked his numbers, how the money reached him, what he has spent it on, and the tax position for Indians.
How he won: 12 tickets and his mother's birth month
Bolla had played before. He played for about a year, first with scratch cards and then with the Lucky Day draws. For draw 251018 he bought 12 tickets in one purchase.
Most of his numbers came from Easy Pick, where the system chooses numbers at random. He picked one number himself: for the "Month" number he chose November (11), the month his mother was born. That ticket matched all seven numbers, at odds of about 1 in 8.8 million.
He told Gulf News he checked the results sitting on his sofa. He was in shock and couldn't sleep, so he went out to celebrate. The first person he told was a colleague.
How the Dh100 million payout works
Many people assume a big jackpot is paid in yearly instalments. That wasn't the case here. The UAE Lottery paid Bolla one lump sum, with no instalments and no tax deducted. According to Gulf News, the process works like this:
- In-person verification at UAE Lottery headquarters, where the winner's identity and ticket are checked.
- Regulatory and banking approvals. The lottery is regulated by the GCGRA, and a transfer this large has to clear the bank's compliance checks.
- Bank transfer of the full amount to the winner's account.
The whole process usually takes several weeks, not days. Keep that in mind if anyone tells you a lottery win can be "released" today for a fee. Real lotteries don't work that way (more on scams below).
What is Dh100 million in Indian rupees?
At the exchange rate around the October 2025 draw, Dh100 million came to roughly ₹240 crore, or about ₹24 per dirham. The UAE dirham is pegged to the US dollar, so the prize's rupee value moves with the rupee-dollar rate. Indian outlets still use the ₹240 crore figure, but it reflects the rate at the time of the win and isn't fixed.
One year later: what Anilkumar Bolla did with ₹240 crore
The October 2026 interviews answer the question most readers are asking. He has spent mostly on family and property, with a few luxuries. He called the year "transformative" and said the initial excitement has faded.
Property and cars
The anniversary coverage says he has bought property in the UAE and in India. Some reports name a home in Abu Dhabi near the airport and one in Dubai near Dubai Marina. He also bought cars for himself and his brother. In November 2025 he had talked about buying a villa on Saadiyat or Yas Island, but the 2026 coverage doesn't mention one.
Family
- Gold jewellery for his mother: a necklace, rings and bangles.
- Farmland for his father, who wants to farm organically and build a farmhouse.
- The family still lives in the same house in India, which was his father's dream home.
Personal spending and travel
- An iPhone 17 Air and four or five watches.
- Trips to Bali, Thailand and Amsterdam, plus several visits home to India.
The hardest part
He said his biggest challenge has been "managing the expectations of the people surrounding me." He also said: "The most important thing is that I'm spending quality time with my family."
Plans for the next five years
- Improve his health
- Get married and have a child
- Look into business ideas, with the UAE as his base
- Keep playing the lottery
His advice to future winners, as reported by Khaleej Times: "Welcome to the millionaires' club. Stay humble, manage your money well, and spend it wisely and with discipline."
What's still unclear
In November 2025 he said he would keep his job for now, stay in the UAE for at least 10 years, invest in stocks, start an IT consultancy with a colleague, bring his parents and brother to the UAE, and give to charity. The 2026 coverage doesn't say whether he has left his job or moved his parents. It does say the family still lives in their house in India. As of 24 October 2026, he has made no statement since the anniversary interviews.
Timeline: from first ticket to first anniversary
- Around late 2024: Bolla starts playing, first with scratch cards and then Lucky Day draws.
- 18 October 2025: He wins Dh100 million in Lucky Day Draw No. 251018 by matching all 7 numbers. It is the first-ever Grand Prize and the biggest UAE lottery prize to date. His identity is announced a few days later.
- November 2025: His first interview (Gulf News) sets out his plans: keep his job, buy a villa, invest, start a consultancy, help his family and give to charity.
- 29 November 2025 (Draw 251129): The last Dh100 million draw. Nobody wins, so Bolla remains the only Dh100 million winner.
- 6 December 2025: Lucky Day becomes a weekly draw with a Dh30 million grand prize.
- 8 April 2026: Draws move to twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday.
- 27 May 2026: Tayab Khan, a 26-year-old Nepalese security guard, wins the Dh30 million jackpot and shares it with four friends.
- 1 July 2026: Sunil Kumar Sadasivan, a 52-year-old Indian living in Abu Dhabi, becomes the second Dh30 million winner.
- 17 October 2026: The 100th Lucky Day draw. According to AGBrief, total payouts across the 100 draws have passed Dh300 million.
- 21 October 2026 (Draw 261021): The Dh30 million, Dh5 million and Dh100,000 prizes all go unclaimed and roll over.
- 22 October 2026: One-year anniversary interviews with Bolla appear in Gulf News, Khaleej Times and Indian outlets.
- 24 October 2026 (Draw 261024): The next Lucky Day draw, at 9:30 PM UAE time (11 PM IST). Results weren't out when this was written at 2 PM IST on 24 October 2026. Check theuaelottery.ae for official results.
How the UAE Lottery works now
The format has changed since Bolla's win. Per Khaleej Times, the Lucky Day grand prize is now Dh30 million and draws are held twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday at 9:30 PM UAE time. Ticket sales close at 8 PM. Some older pages still say "every other Saturday, 8:30 PM", which is out of date. The prizes are:
- Dh30 million for matching all 6 "Days" numbers (1–31) plus the "Month" number (1–12)
- Dh5 million second prize
- Dh100,000 for matching 5 Days numbers plus the Month number
- Three guaranteed Dh50,000 "Lucky Chance" prizes in each draw
Reports on the earlier second prize aren't fully consistent: one Gulf News piece mentions Dh1 million. The official site's homepage loads with JavaScript and we couldn't read its current terms directly, so check prices and rules on theuaelottery.ae. Don't rely on figures shared on social media.
Is UAE lottery prize money taxed? The India question
In the UAE, no. Bolla got his Dh100 million as a tax-free lump sum. The UAE has no personal income tax.
In India, it depends on your tax residency. Many news reports skip this part. Here is the general picture:
- Indian residents pay a flat 30% plus 4% cess (about 31.2%) on lottery winnings, and can't claim deductions against them. Residents are generally taxed on their worldwide income, so a win abroad can still be taxable in India. This rule was Section 115BB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (Income Tax Department). The new Income-tax Act, 2025 took effect on 1 April 2026 and renumbered the sections, so "115BB" is no longer the current reference.
- Non-residents (NRIs) are generally taxed in India only on income earned or received in India. A prize won while non-resident is generally not taxable in India. We couldn't find a source that deals with this exact case, so treat this as the general rule only.
- Residency depends mainly on how many days you spend in India each year, with several special rules. The India–UAE tax treaty may allow a tax credit in some cases.
Bolla lives and works in Abu Dhabi, so he may well be a non-resident. We haven't seen any public statement about his Indian tax position, though, so we won't guess. If you're an Indian expat who wins a prize abroad, speak to a qualified tax adviser before you move large sums to India. Gifts to family, property purchases and interest earned in India each have their own rules.
Can Indians play the UAE Lottery?
Only if they live in the UAE. According to Gulf News and Khaleej Times, players must be 18 or older, UAE residents with an Emirates ID, and physically in the UAE when they buy a ticket. People living in India and tourists can't play. Some low-quality websites claim tourists can, which is wrong. Bolla and Sadasivan were both UAE residents when they won.
- India's foreign exchange rules don't allow residents to send money abroad to buy lottery tickets. Paying for a foreign lottery ticket from India can put you in breach of FEMA.
- The UAE Lottery is the country's only federally licensed lottery. GCGRA says playing through unlicensed operators is illegal. Don't trust WhatsApp forwards or agents who offer to buy tickets for you.
Watch out for "you've won" scams
Big wins like Bolla's are usually followed by fake messages saying "you've won the UAE lottery, pay a processing fee to claim." Genuine winners are verified in person at lottery headquarters and paid by bank transfer. They are never asked to pay a fee to release a prize. If you've lost money to a scam like this, call 1930. Our guide on how to report cyber fraud on helpline 1930 walks you through the steps.
Why this story caught on
Several things make Bolla's story stand out. He was young, he had been in the UAE only a short time, the prize set a record, and he picked his number for his mother. A year on, most of the money has gone to his family and to property, and he has spent relatively little on himself. For millions of Indians in the Gulf, many of them from Telangana, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, it's a story that feels close to home.
For more explainers on money, rules and the stories trending in India, visit the KyunTrend homepage.
Sources
- GCGRA: licence press release (July 2024)
- The UAE Lottery (official site)
- Income Tax Department: Section 115BB
- Khaleej Times: UAE's only Dh100M winner, one year later
- Gulf News: Bolla reveals how life changed
- Khaleej Times: Lucky Day draws twice a week
- Gulf News: Rules, restrictions and safety measures
- AGBrief: 100th Lucky Day draw
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