Industrialist G P Birla passes away in Kolkata
Noted industrialist GP Birla died on Friday night in Kolkata after a brief illness. He was 87.
Noted industrialist GP Birla died on Friday night in Kolkata after a brief illness. He was 87.
GP Birla, part of the illustrious Birla clan, headed the GP-CK Birla Group, with business interests spanning across sectors such as automobiles, heavy machinery, information technology, paper, cement, building products, consumer durables, engineering, and emerging areas such as oil and gas, and geomatics and environment.
The group has business interests across four continents. Hindustan Motors, with units in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, is the flagship company of the group, with global revenues in excess of $1.2 billion (Rs 5,500 crore).
The GP-CK Birla Group was established by the late Braj Mohan Birla, and GP Birla carried the legacy forward.
Birla House sources in Kolkata said GP Birla was active till about a week ago and used to come to his office regularly.
He is survived by his wife, Nirmala; son, CK Birla and daughter, Lekha Poddar.
The mantle of the business empire has passed to his son, Chandrakant.
Other prominent companies of the group include Hyderabad Industries Ltd, Orient Paper & Industries Ltd, AVTEC Ltd, National Engineering Industries Ltd, Birlasoft Ltd, Indian Smelting & Refining Co. Ltd, Nigeria Engineering Works Ltd, Nigeria and Pan African Paper Mills (EA) Ltd, Kenya.
The group also manages two major healthcare facilities in Kolkata — BM Birla Heart Research Centre and Calcutta Medical Research Institute.
CP Birla’s last rites were performed in Kolkata on Saturday.
President Pratibha Patil offered her condolences to the family.