The Birla family is an Indian business family connected with the industrial and social history of India.
33-504: Birla may refer to: Birla family Members of the Birla family: Aditya Vikram Birla Ananya Birla Basant Kumar Birla G. D. Birla K. K. Birla C. K. Birla Kumar Mangalam Birla See also [ edit ] Burla (disambiguation) [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with the surname Birla . If an internal link intending to refer to
66-636: A number of obstacles as the British and Scottish merchants tried to shut his business by unethical and monopolistic methods, but he was able to persevere. When World War I resulted in supply problems throughout the British Empire, Birla's business skyrocketed. 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
99-653: A plane crash, Priyamvada Birla, ("Badi Ma") helped take care of him. It is reported that Kumar Mangalam Birla had dipped into his own resources to help his beleaguered relative Yash with his financial issues with creditors in order to preserve the family name. For many decades the extreme wealth in India was associated with the Tatas and Birlas. The words Tata-Birla were often used together. They were distantly followed by Dalmias (Dalmia-Sahu Jain group) for some time, however Tatas and Birlas have been able to sustain themselves as among
132-467: A specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Birla&oldid=1121800549 " Categories : Surnames Birla family Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata All set index articles Birla family The Birla family belongs to
165-510: A steady food supply for their industrial interests in Calcutta, even as millions in rural areas faced starvation. These actions contributed to escalating food prices and exacerbated the food scarcity in rural areas. The industrialists' close ties to the colonial government, with Sarkar holding the Food portfolio and Benthall controlling war transport, allowed them to prioritize feeding industrial Calcutta at
198-400: Is given below. It does not include daughters or children who are young (or who died young). Lakshmi Nivas Birla was technically adopted by his uncle Jugal Kishor Birla. As has been noted in the press, some of the branches have been more successful than others. The GD-Basant Kumar-Aditya Vikarm-Kumar Mangalam Birla branch has performed the best, with a group turnover of ₹29,000 Crore in 2004. At
231-630: 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. Now Pilani also houses Birla Public School, a famous residential public school named after Birla's family and a number of polytechnic colleges. The town of Pilani and
264-619: The Maheshwari community of Bania Vaishya traders. They are Marwari since by convention, merchants from Rajasthan are termed Marwari. The family originates from the town of Pilani in the Shekhawati region of North-east Rajasthan. They still maintain their ancestral residence termed Birla Haweli in Pilani and run several educational institutions there, including the BITS, Pilani . In Pilani, during
297-600: 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 bank of India. Envisioning infrastructural development in his hometown, Birla founded
330-608: The Birlas are perceived as a single entity, the different branches of the family are now financially independent. However they have continued to maintain family relationships that go back to the times when "Birla Brothers" were an actual entity and Raja Baldeo Das was still alive. GD Birla's both wives died early because of tuberculosis (He remarried after the death of his first wife), a common affliction at that time. The families of his brothers Brij Mohan and Rameshwar Das Birla helped in raising his children . When Yash Birla's parents died in
363-428: The Birlas include: In a letter, Ghanshaym Das offered this advice to Aditya (his grandson) when he was studying at MIT: GD Birla instructed his son Basant Kumar to 'never utilize wealth only for fun and frolic,' to 'spend the bare minimum on yourself,' and to deride 'worldly pleasures.' This advice symbolized the ethic of the rising Marwari community, with restraint and austerity its defining attributes. Although
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#1732852118357396-399: The basis of the family's fortune. With growing wealth and increasing confidence, Shiv Narayana Birla moved up the value chain and began chartering cargo ships in partnership with other Marwadi tradesmen to trade opium with China, thus by-passing British middlemen. To facilitate this, he moved to Bombay in 1863. Shiv Narayan Birla had one overwhelming sorrow in his life: he had no children. By
429-495: The cotton before shipment to England. Shiv Narayana Birla was one of the early Indian traders to participate in this cotton trade. Later, Britain vigorously fostered the trade of opium with China and developed the cultivation of poppy in India. The Ratlam - Mandsaur region (not far from Ahmedabad) became prime poppy cropland due to the suitable soil and climate. Shiv Narayan Birla and his adopted son, Baldeo Das Birla, made an enormous fortune by trading opium with China, and this formed
462-400: The demand for gunny bags . During the war, the Birla's worth is estimated to have risen from ₹ 2 million (equivalent to ₹ 540 million or US$ 6.4 million in 2023) to ₹ 8 million (equivalent to ₹ 1.4 billion or US$ 17 million in 2023). In 1919, he became among the first group of Indian entrepreneurs to become owner of a jute mill named Birla Jute . In
495-449: The early 1880s, Shiv Narayan (Narain) had passed on the baton of his business interests to his adopted son, Baldeo Das Birla, established Shivnarayan Baldeodas, a trading house based in Bombay. His son, Baldeo Das Birla moved to Calcutta set up Baldeodas Jugalkishor in 1887. Baldeo Das was succeeded by four sons – Jugal Kishore, Rameshwar Das, Ghanshyam Das and Braj Mohan. Baldeo Das
528-566: The early 19th century lived Seth Shobharam, grandson of Seth Bhudharmal, a local tradesman of modest means. It was his son, Seth Shiv Narayana (1840–1909), who first ventured outside Pilani. At this time, Ahmedabad was the railhead that served trade from a large region of northwest India. Goods (mainly cotton) would be brought from the hinterland to the city and sent from there by train to Bombay for export to England and other countries. Several cotton -inning units were also set up in Ahmedabad, to clean
561-573: The expense of the rural population. Birla reportedly used the profits generated during this crisis to purchase British industrial interests in India following independence, further consolidating his economic influence in the post-colonial era. This stark contrast between the industrialists' actions and Gandhi's public stance on fasting for the "privations of the poor millions" highlights the complex and often conflicting interests at play during this tragic period in Bengal's history. G. D. Birla had remarried after
594-632: The family established the first high school in Pilani now name as Birla School, Pilani it is one of the oldest school in India. Currently they have 6 schools run by Birla Education Trust (BET), which evolved into BITS Pilani , which has branches in Hyderabad, Goa and Dubai. They also opened a Sanskrit library in Benares and a library in Kolkata. It is well known for the financial support of Indian's freedom struggle and for building temples (see Birla Temple ) in several major Indian cities. The institutions founded by
627-491: The gardens with an inscription. 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. The Bengal famine of 1943 was a devastating event that resulted in the deaths of an estimated 2-3 million people in the Bengal region of British India (present-day Bangladesh and West Bengal). The famine
660-722: The grant on the request of Vallabhbhai Patel to lay the foundation of Birla Vishvakarma Mahavidyalaya in Anand , Gujarat . Baldeo Das, as well as his sons, were among the key supporters of the Swaraj movement led by Mahatma Gandhi, in addition to being dedicated Hindu activists. They were active supporters of the Banaras Hindu University founded by Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya and were also financial supporters of activities initiated by Mahatma Gandhi. The landmark Laxminarayan Temple in Delhi
693-402: The leaders of India, like Sardar Patel after India's independence. When E. M. S. Namboodiripad became the chief minister of Kerala (1957–59), as a result of the first elected Marxist government anywhere, the Birlas were invited to establish a pulp factory there. In the recent past, the Birlas, as well as several other Indian industrialists, have expanded overseas. A simplified family tree
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#1732852118357726-555: The local population enjoy a highly symbiotic relationship with these institutions, thereby stepping towards realising Birla's dream. TIT&S also evolved as the Center of Excellence in Textile based education and training. Moreover, G.D. Birla Memorial School, Ranikhet , a premier residential school has also been established in his honour by his son B.K. Birla and The Birla School in Kalyan , India
759-473: The moneylending business into manufacturing. So he left for Calcutta in Bengal Presidency , the world's largest jute producing region. There, he began "[i]ndependently as a jute broker". In 1918, he established Birla Jute Mills, much to the consternation of established European merchants, whom the biased policies of the British government favoured other than the local Bengali merchants. He had to scale
792-517: The most prominent industrialists in India (for 1939-1997 data see ) while others have declined. A plan for development of India was developed by a group of industrialists in 1944, which was termed the Tata-Birla plan or the Bombay Plan , which is said to have served as a blueprint for India's first five-year plan . Ghanshyam Das Birla Ghanshyam Das Birla (10 April 1894 – 11 June 1983)
825-412: The next few years he acquired several cotton mills. He later started several sugar mills. The publication Hindustan Times was co-founded by GD Birla in 1924 and fully acquired by him in 1933. Hindustan Motors was started in 1942. After India's independence in 1947 he started Grasim (Gwalior Rayon Silk Manufacturing, 1948) and Hindalco (Hindustan Alum Company 1958) among others. He also generously led
858-478: The other end is Yashovardhan Birla, who has struggled. Birla philanthropy began in the 1880s, when the Birla family donated over 100,000 rupees for setting up goshalas (shelters for the protection of cows) in Kolkata. By early 1900, the Birla family began to support education, influenced by Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya. They supported educational charities in Kolkata and in Mumbai teaming up with Jamnalal Bajaj . In 1918,
891-766: Was an Indian businessman and member of the Birla Family . 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 Maheshwari community. His father was Raja Baldevdas Birla . In 1884, Baldeo Das Birla went to Bombay in search of new avenues of trade. He established his firm Shiv Narian Baldeo Das in Bombay in 1884 and Baldeo Das Jugal Kishore in 1897 in Calcutta . The firms started business in silver, cotton, grain and other commodities. He
924-555: Was awarded the Raibahadur title in 1917. In 1920 he retired from business and started living in Banaras pursuing religious studies. In 1925 he was awarded the title of "Raja" by the government of Bihar and Orissa. He was awarded D.Litt. by Banaras Hindu University. Ghanshyamdas Birla laid the foundation of his industrial empire by establishing GM Birla Company, trading in jute , in 1911. The First World War began in 1914 greatly increasing
957-465: Was built by Jugal Kishore Birla and was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi and as asked by Mahatma, all Hindus, including Harijans were welcomed in this temple. In the few decades before India's independence, Indian merchants, including the Birlas, made successful attempts to enter and acquire industries in India which were once dominated by Scots from Britain. This became a part of Mahatma Gandhi's Swadeshi movement. The Birlas remained close to some of
990-472: Was caused by a complex interplay of factors, including wartime policies, economic mismanagement, and food distribution failures, rather than a significant crop shortage. During this crisis, prominent industrialists like GD Birla played a controversial role. According to Janam Mukherjee's Hungry Bengal, Birla and other industrialists like Benthall and Nalini Ranjan Sarkar actively purchased large quantities of rice from rural Bengal at inflated prices. This ensured
1023-564: Was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly of British India . He became the founding 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
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1056-641: Was founded by his efforts with the collaboration of Kalyan Citizens' Education Society (KCES). In 1957, he was awarded India 's second-highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India . Birla was a vegetarian . He died in London on 11 June 1983 at the age of 89. There is a memorial to him in Golders Green Crematorium , Hoop Lane, London . It comprises a large statue overlooking
1089-401: Was succeeded by 4 sons, Jugal Kishore, Rameshwar Das, Ghanshyam Das and Braj Mohan. Ghanshyam Das was the most successful of the four brothers. G. D. Birla inherited the family business and moved to further diversify them into other areas. Of these, at least three contemporary family business groups existing in India today can trace their ancestry to him. Of these businesses, he wanted to turn
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