Krishna Kumar Birla (11 November 1918 – 30 August 2008) was an Indian industrialist of the

Birla family The Birla family is an Indian business family connected with the industrial and social history of India. Foundations The Birla family's origins trace to the Maheshwari community of Bania Vaishya traders. The family was outcasted in 1922 when ...

Biography

Born at Pilani in the northwestern Indian state

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

on 11 November 1918, Krishna Kumar Birla was the second son of

Ghanshyam Das Birla Ghanshyam Das Birla (10 April 1894 – 11 June 1983) was an Indian businessman and member of the Birla Family. Birla family history Ghanshyam Das Birla was born on 10 April 1894 at Pilani town in Jhunjhunu district, in the region known as ...

. He had one older brother,

Lakshmi Niwas Birla Lakshmi Niwas Birla (11 July 1909 – 29 August 1994) was one of the scions of Birla family and a noted Industrialist , philanthropist , writer and art connoisseur. He was the eldest son of Ghanshyam Das Birla and his first wife Durgadevi. He w ...

, who was the son of Ghanshyam Das Birla by his deceased first wife, Durga Devi Birla. Krishna Kumar was the elder of the two sons born to Ghanshyam Das Birla's second wife, Mahadevi Birla, the other son being

Basant Kumar Birla Basant Kumar Birla (12 January 1921 – 3 July 2019) was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist of the Birla family. He was chairman of the Krishnarpan Charity Trust, BK Birla Institute of Engineering & Technology (BKBIET) and various e ...

, father of

Aditya Vikram Birla Aditya Vikram Birla (14 November 1943 – 1 October 1995) was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist. Born into one of the largest business families of India, he oversaw the diversification of his group into textiles, petrochemicals and ...

. Krishna Kumar also had three sisters, all of whom were born to Mahadevi Birla. Birla's birthday coincided with the Hindu festival of Gopashtami, which is associated with the Hindu god

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

and thus led to the selection of his name. Krishna Kumar's father, Ghanshyam Das Birla, was the founder of the

Birla Group Aditya Birla Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. The group's business interests include metals, cement, fashion and retail, financial services, renewables, fibre, textiles, chemicals, real estate, trading, m ...

and he was one of India's richest businessmen. He was also a staunch follower of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

and a major financier of Gandhi's Congress Party in the years preceding and immediately following the Independence of India in 1947. Krishna Kumar joined Congress Party in 1984 as a life member. He was elected as a Rajya Sabha member in the same year, under the leadership of Indira Gandhi. He was a Member of Parliament for three terms from 1984 to 2002, and served on several committees of Parliament. He was appointed twice, in 1980 and 2004, as a member of the National Integration Council chaired by the prime minister. Birla was one of the industrialists who supported economic reforms in India in 1991. Birla was a Hindi Prabhakar (Honours in Hindi) and in 1997 was conferred the degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) by Pondicherry University. In 1991, Birla established the K.K. Birla Foundation to promote

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

literature. He was the chairman of one of the ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

''. He was on the central board of the

State Bank of India State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational Public sector undertakings in India, public sector bank and financial service body headquartered in Mumbai. It is the largest bank in India with a 23% market shar ...

and

ICICI ICICI Bank Limited is an Indian Multinational Corporation, multinational bank and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai with a registered office in Vadodara. It offers a wide range of banking and financial services for corporate a ...

. He headed the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI), the Indian Sugar Mills Association and many Sports Federations. Birla was the group chairman of the Zuari-Chambal group of companies. He was also the Chairman of Zuari-Chambal-Paradeep. He liked playing bridge. He was president of the Bridge Federation of India for a number of years and also headed the Indian Lawn Tennis Association.

Personal life

Krishna was married to Manorama Devi for 67 years until her death on 29 July 2008. She came from the same caste and similar background to him, and the couple did not meet prior to their wedding day, as is traditional in Indian arranged marriages. Birla himself died a month after his wife, on 30 August 2008, a few weeks short of his 90th birthday. His death occurred at his residence, Birla Park in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, where he had lived almost his entire life, and the cause was given as age-related ailments and pneumonia. He was grief-stricken by the death of his wife. The couple were survived by three daughters.Fact file: Dr KK Birla
''

'', 30 August 2008

Writings

* Brushes With History, An Autobiography, Dec. 2018 (in Hindi - Itihas Ka Sparshbodh: Ek Aatmakatha) * Indira Gandhi: Reminiscences and Partner in Progress, 24 August 1987

Legacy

* His net worth was estimated at 11,000 crore in 2008. * After the demise of Birla, his son-in-law Saroj Kumar Poddar took over as the chairman of Zuari-Chambal-Paradeep fertilizer combines. * The textiles and sugar business is now headed by Nandini Nopany, eldest daughter of Birla and

Chandra Shekhar Nopany Chandra (), also known as Soma (), is the Hindu god of the Moon, and is associated with the night, plants and vegetation. He is one of the Navagraha (nine planets of Hinduism) and Dikpala (guardians of the directions). Etymology and other na ...

, grandson of Birla. * The Media group,

Media, is now chaired by his daughter

Shobhana Bhartia Shobhana Bhartia (born 4 January 1957) is an Indian businesswoman. She is the chairperson and editorial director of the HT Media, one of India's largest newspapers and media houses, which she inherited from her father. She has also recently take ...

, Member of Parliament. *

Kumar Mangalam Birla Kumar Mangalam Birla (born 14 June 1967) is an Indian billionaire businessman. He is the chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, one of the largest Conglomerate (company), conglomerates in India. He is the chancellor of the Birla Institute of Techn ...

, Chairman-Aditya Birla Group and grand nephew of Birla, took over as the Chancellor of

BITS Pilani The Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani) is a private deemed university in Pilani, Rajasthan, India. It focuses primarily on higher education and research in engineering and sciences. BITS Pilani was one of the first ...

. * K. K. Birla Lane in New Delhi is named for him. * K.K. Birla Garden, in

Kathua Kathua is a city and municipal council of the Jammu division of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir di ...

is named after him. * BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa campus is named after him.

References

Hindu College, University of Delhi Hindu College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi. Founded in 1899, it is one of the oldest colleges in India, offering undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the sciences, humanities and commerce. The college has prod ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birla, Krishna Rajasthani people 1918 births 2008 deaths Rajya Sabha members from Rajasthan

Founders of Indian schools and colleges 20th-century Indian philanthropists

Biography

Personal life

Writings

Legacy

See also

References