Noted industrialist GP Birla dies following a brief illness

Noted industrialist and part of the well-known Birla clan, G P Birla, died in Kolkata on Friday night, following a brief illness. He was 87. He is survived by his wife Nirmala, son C K Birla and daughter Lekha Poddar.

According to sources at Birla House in Kolkata, G P Birla visited the offices till a week back despite his advanced age.

GP Birla headed the GP-CK Group of companies with business interests in sectors ranging from automobiles, bearings, earth-moving and power transmission equipment, heavy machinery, information technology, paper, cement, building materials, electric fans, oil and gas and healthcare.

The group’s flagship company is Hindustan Motors with units in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. But G P Birla was also known for setting up companies such as Orient Paper and Hyderabad Industries, Birlasoft Ltd, Indian Smelting & Refining Co Ltd, Nigeria Engineering Works Ltd, Nigeria,

Pan African Paper Mills (EA) Ltd, Kenya, the Birla Institute of Technology at Mesra, near Ranchi and two prominent hospitals in Kolkata — the B M Birla Heart Research Centre and the Calcutta Medical Research Institute (CMRI). The group’s interests spanned four continents.

The GP-CK Birla Group was set up by the late Braj Mohan Birla.
G P Birla’s last rites will be performed in Kolkata on Saturday.