G. D. Birla

Lore & Background

Ghanshyam Das Birla was born on 10 April 1894 at Pilani town in Jhunjhunu district, in the region known as Rajputana, as a member of the Marwari Rajasthani community. His father was Raja Baldevdas Birla. He inherited the family business and moved to further diversify them into other areas. He left for Calcutta in Bengal Presidency, the world's largest jute producing region, and began independently as a jute broker. In 1918, he established Birla Jute Mills. With an investment of ₹5 million in 1919, the Birla Brothers Limited was formed. A mill was set up in Gwalior in the same year. In 1926, he was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly of British India. He became the first president of Harijan Sevak Sangh founded by Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi in 1932. In the 1940s, he ventured into the territory of cars and established Hindustan Motors. After independence, Birla invested in tea and textiles through a series of acquisitions of erstwhile European companies. He also expanded and diversified into cement, chemicals, rayon and steel tubes. Ghanshyam Das Birla during the Quit India Movement of 1942, had conceived the idea of organising a commercial bank with Indian capital and management, and the United Commercial Bank Limited was incorporated to give shape to that idea. UCO Bank, formerly United Commercial Bank, established in 1943 in Kolkata, is one of the oldest and major commercial banks of India. Birla was a close associate and a steady supporter of Mahatma Gandhi, whom he met for the first time in 1916. Gandhi stayed at Birla's home in New Delhi during the last four months of his life. During the Bengal famine of 1943, Birla and other industrialists purchased large quantities of rice from rural Bengal at inflated prices, ensuring a steady food supply for their industrial interests in Calcutta. Birla reportedly used the profits generated during this crisis to purchase British industrial interests in India following independence. He had three sons: Lakshmi Nivas (son of his first wife Durga Devi), Krishna Kumar and Basant Kumar (both sons of his second wife Mahadevi Birla). Kumar Mangalam Birla is his great grandson. Lakshmi Nivas was technically adopted by his older brother Jugal Kishor. Birla was a vegetarian. He died in London on 11 June 1983 at the age of 89.

Reader's Guide

Birla founded the Birla Engineering College (rechristened as Birla Institute of Technology and Science in 1964) in Pilani and the Technological Institute of Textile & Sciences in Bhiwani among other educational institutions in 1943. Pilani also houses Birla Public School and a number of polytechnic colleges. G.D. Birla Memorial School, Ranikhet, was established in his honour by his son B.K. Birla, and The Birla School in Kalyan, India was founded by his efforts with the collaboration of Kalyan Citizens' Education Society (KCES). In 1957, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India.

Did You Know?

• Birla was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly of British India in 1926.
• He became the first president of Harijan Sevak Sangh founded by Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi in 1932.
• Gandhi stayed at Birla's home in New Delhi during the last four months of his life.
• Birla conceived the idea of a commercial bank during the Quit India Movement of 1942, leading to the incorporation of United Commercial Bank Limited in 1943.