GD Birla: A Gandhian Who Rose With the Fall of the British

“There was nothing I could refuse Gandhiji,” Ghanshyam Das Birla said about his relationship with Mahatma Gandhi.

The man behind the creation and the rise of the Birla Group in India, Ghanshyam Das Birla died 34 years ago on 11 June, 1983. He founded the Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (BITS) in Pilani as well as the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), and was awarded the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 1957.

Birla lived life guided by his rigid business ethics, but another major influence on his life was Mahatma Gandhi, with whom he shared an unusual friendship.