Birla, Ghanshyamdas

(1894–1983) Patriarch of the Birla industrial family. The Birlas made a fortune in
opium in the early decades of the twentieth century and then diversified into a
variety of other industrial ventures.
Ghanshyamdas was a close friend of
Mohandas K. Gandhi and the major
financial supporter for Gandhi’s political organization, the Indian National
Congress, to which Birla had given an
estimated 100 million rupees by the
time of independence. In his later years,
he devoted considerable money and
attention to building temples, sponsoring religious and charitable trusts, and
performing other honorable deeds.