The Birla family is well-known for wealth, power, and an unrelenting spirit of entrepreneurship. Spanning over a century of business evolution, their story is one of bold risks, strategic expansions, and an unwavering commitment to India’s industrial growth.
From the humble beginnings of Shiv Narayana Birla, who traded cotton and opium, to the modern conglomerate empire led by Kumar Mangalam Birla, the Birla family’s influence has shaped India’s economy across industries—textiles, cement, metals, finance, telecommunications, and global manufacturing.
Each generation of the Birla Family has played a significant role in transforming the business landscape, with pioneering ventures, innovative strategies, and monumental contributions to industrialization, education, and philanthropy.
This article enlightens the fascinating journey of the Birla family, tracing the lives and accomplishments of its most influential members.
Table of Contents
Birla Family Tree
#1 Shiv Narayana Birla: The Foundation of Birla Family
Shiv Narayana Birla was one of the early Indian traders to participate in the cotton trade. Later, Britain vigorously fostered the trade of opium with China and developed the cultivation of poppy seeds in India. He began trading opium with China along with his adopted son Baldeo Das Birla which formed 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 bypassing British middlemen.
#2 Baldeo Das Birla
Shiv Narayan (Narain) had passed on the baton of his business interests to his adopted son, Baldev Das Birla, who established Shivnarayan Baldevdas, a trading house based in Bombay. His son, Baldev Das Birla moved to Calcutta and set up Baldevdas Jugalkishor in 1887. Baldeo Das was succeeded by four sons Jugal Kishore, Rameshwar Das, Ghanshyam Das and Braj Mohan. He was awarded the Raibahadur title in 1917. In 1920 he retired from business and started living in Banaras pursuing religious studies.
#3 Jugal Kishore Birla
Jugal Kishore Birla was a scion of the Birla family and the eldest son of Baldeo Das Birla. He was a noted industrialist, philanthropist and vocal supporter of Hindu philosophy. He started his business career at an early age, joining his father in Calcutta and soon came to be known as a reputed trader and speculator in opium, silver, spice and other trades from which the Birlas later diversified into trading jute and other items like cotton during and after the First World War, by which time his younger brother Ghanshyam Das Birla had also joined the business. The family firm, which was 1918 run as Baldeodas Jugalkishore, was made into a limited company known as Birla Brothers Limited.
#4 Rameshwar Das Birla
He was the second son of Baldeo Das Birla and the father of Madhav Prasad Birla and Gajanan Birla. Birla’s decision in 1922 to remarry following the death of his first wife caused a split in the Maheshwari caste of which his family were a member. They were outcasts by the community, who doubted that his new wife was herself a Maheshwari and thus believed that Birla had broken the caste rules relating to marriage.
Rameshwar Das Birla played a significant role in expanding the family’s business empire, particularly in the textile and sugar industries. Known for his contributions to education and healthcare, he established various institutions, including well-known Bombay Hospitals and schools.
#5 Ghanshyam Das Birla
Ghanshyamdas Birla laid the foundation of his industrial empire by establishing GM Birla Company, trading in jute, in 1911. In 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 1936. 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. Ghanshyam Das was the most successful of the four brothers.
#6 Brij Mohan Birla
Brij Mohan Birla was a prominent industrialist and philanthropist, recognized as one of the heirs of the Birla family. He was the youngest and fourth son of Baldeo Das Birla. Over the years, he played a key role in the Indian business landscape, serving as the Chairman of Hindustan Motors, Ruby General Insurance, India Exchange, and NBC Bearings, while also holding board positions in several other Birla enterprises.
He established Hindustan Motors in 1942 and NBC Bearings in 1946, laying the foundation for industrial advancements in India. The CK Birla Group traces its lineage to its branch of the Birla family. Additionally, he held leadership roles in major business organizations, serving as the President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in 1936 and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry in 1954.
#7 Madhav Prasad Birla
The expansion of Birla’s business empire was driven by Madhav Prasad Birla। He started the MP Birla Group by focusing on cement, jute, and telecommunications। Under his leadership, the group’s industrial success was spearheaded by the development of Birla Corporation Limited.
Madhav Prasad Birla was born on 4 July 1918 in Mumbai. MP Birla was married to Smt. Priyamvada Devi. He established a number of businesses, including Birla Corporation, Universal Cables, Vindhya Telelinks, Hindustan Gum & Chemicals, Digvijay Woollen Mills, and Indian Smelting। He also founded several schools in Calcutta and Birla Planetarium & Belle Vue Clinic। He was also vice chair of Bombay Hospital Trust.
#8 Lakshmi Niwas Birla
Lakshmi Niwas Birla (11 July 1909 – 29 August 1994) was a well-known Indian industrialist, philanthropist, writer, and art connoisseur. He was the eldest son of Ghanshyam Das Birla and Durgadevi, he was later adopted by his uncle, Jugal Kishore Birla. He married Sushila Devi, and they had a son, Sudarshan Kumar Birla, born in 1934.
In business, Lakshmi Niwas Birla held various significant positions, including serving as the president of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in 1951 and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) in 1967. Beyond his industrial pursuits, he was very fond of writing, and authoring numerous books in both English and Hindi. His passion for art was evident through his extensive collection and patronage.
As a dedicated philanthropist, Birla contributed generously to various causes. Notably, he funded the establishment of Hindu temples, including providing idols for a temple in Durban. In 1941, he founded the Birla High School, also known as Hindi High School, underscoring his commitment to education. Lakshmi Niwas Birla’s multifaceted legacy encompasses significant contributions to industry, literature, art, and philanthropy in India.
#9 Krishna Kumar Birla
Krishna Kumar Birla (1918–2008) was a distinguished Indian industrialist, parliamentarian, and philanthropist. He was the son of Ghanshyam Das Birla. Krishna Kumar Birla played a key role in India’s industrial growth, particularly in sugar, fertilizers, textiles, and engineering. He chaired the Zuari-Chambal-Paradeep fertilizer group and served three terms in the Rajya Sabha (1984–2002). A strong advocate for education and literature, he established the K.K. Birla Foundation and was the long-time chancellor of BITS Pilani. His autobiography, Brushes with History, reflects his contributions to business, politics, and society.
#10 Basant Kumar Birla
Basant Kumar Birla, Ghanshyam Das Birla’s youngest son, was involved in several companies from the age of fifteen. As a chairman of Kesoram Industries, he worked on a lot of things like refractory, paper, shipping, tyrecord, transparent paper, cement, tea, coffee, cardamom, chemicals, plywood, MDF board, etc. He founded the Indo-Ethiopian Textiles Share Company in 1959, which was the first significant joint venture by an Indian industrialist.
On 13 April 1942, Krishna Kumar Birla married Sarala, the daughter of activist Brijlal Biyani. They had a son, Aditya Vikram Birla, and two daughters, Jayashree Mohta and Manjushree Khaitan.
#11 Ganga Prasad Birla
Ganga Prasad Birla (1922 – 2010) was an Indian industrialist and a significant part of the Birla family’s business empire. He became a member of the board in 1942 and became its chairman in 1957. He began his career in 1969 with the group’s flagship Hindustan Motors and became its chairman in 1982.
Additionally, he was the founder of Hyderabad Industries Limited, as well as a number of educational institutions, including Birla Institute of Technology, Birla Archaeological and Cultural Research Institute, Modern High School for Girls in Kolkata, and BM Birla Heart Research Institute and Calcutta Medical Research Institute. He constructed temples in Hyderabad, Jaipur, and Bhopal, and supported the restoration of places of religious, historical, and architectural significance.
#12 Sudarshan Kumar Birla
Born in 1934, Sudarshan Kumar Birla, also known as S. K. Birla, is a prominent member of the Birla family and an industrialist. He is the head of the S. K. Birla group, which formerly included a number of businesses, including Xpro India, Mysore Cement, Birla Eastern, Digvijay Woolen Mills, DIGJAM, and Nabin Industries.
He is G. D. Birla’s eldest grandchild and the son of Lakshmi Niwas Birla. Even though he still has a majority share in the S K Birla group, he gave his son Sidhharth Birla leadership of the organization in 2010. He was the president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry in 1990.
#13 Aditya Vikram Birla
Aditya Vikram Birla was an Indian industrialist. He plays a crucial role in his group’s expansion into the telecoms, petrochemical, and textile industries. He established plants in Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and Egypt, making him one of the first Indian businessmen to go global. Birla founded the group’s first foreign business, Indo-Thai Synthetics Company in 1969.
He founded P.T. Elegant Textiles in 1973 to produce spun yarn. It was the first time the group had visited Indonesia. The Group’s Viscose Rayon Staple Fibre company, Thai Rayon, was established in Thailand in 1974. The first Indo-Filipino joint company, The Indo-Phil Group of Companies, started spinning yarn in 1975. After being incorporated in Malaysia in 1977, Pan Century Edible Oils grew to become the biggest palm oil refinery in the world. Thai Carbon Black was established in Thailand in 1978. In 1982, P.T. All of these endeavours not only made the Birla group famous worldwide, but they also made the company the biggest refiner of palm oil and producer of the staple fibre viscose.
Under the leadership of Aditya Vikram Birla, the Birla group of companies successfully expanded Hindustan Gas and rescued Indo–Gulf Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd.
#14 Chandra Kant Birla
Indian businessman and philanthropist Chandra Kant Birla is the chairman of the CK Birla Group, a conglomerate with holdings in technology, healthcare, education, and building and home goods. He is the chairman of the CK Birla firm in addition to being the chairman of several other businesses that are part of the firm. These include Orient Cement, National Engineering Industries (which makes NBC Bearings), Orient Electric, Orient Paper & Industries, AVTEC, a manufacturer of auto parts, HIL, a manufacturer of building materials, and Neosym, a metal manufacturing company.
He is a member of Birlasoft’s board of directors. He worked in a variety of capacities at Hindustan Motors (HM), which his family founded and which produces the popular Ambassador automobile in India.
#15 Yashovardhan Birla
Based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, the Yash Birla Group is an Indian industrial company. Yashovardhan Birla is its chairman. Steel pipes, machine tools, cutting tools, tool holders, iron castings, power solution products, multipurpose engines, pumps, electrical appliances, textiles, carpets, furnishings, lifestyle, infotech, publishing, travel, electricity, property development, cotton ginning, and other industries are among the many industries in which the group has a varied interest.
In India, the group currently has ten publicly listed entities. After being incorporated in 1960, Zenith Birla (India) started producing goods for sale in 1962. The Yash Birla Group’s flagship company, ZBIL, is a pioneer in the production and export of hollow sections, steel pipes, and tubes from India. Khopoli, Tarapur, and Murbad are the locations of the company’s plants. Birla Power is one of the group enterprises.
#16 Kumar Mangalam Birla
Kumar Mangalam Birla is an Indian billionaire industrialist, philanthropist, and chairman of the Aditya Birla Group. He also serves as the chancellor of BITS Pilani and was formerly the chairman of IIM Ahmedabad. He took over the Aditya Birla Group in 1995 at age 28 after his father’s passing.
Birla’s leadership has driven Aditya Birla Group’s expansion across multiple industries, making it a global conglomerate.
Under his leadership, the group expanded significantly through acquisitions:
- 2000: Acquired Indian Aluminum Company (INDAL)
- 2003: Hindalco acquired Nifty Copper Mines (Australia), and Aditya Birla Group acquired Mount Gordon Copper Mines (Australia)
- 2004: Acquired L&T Cement (renamed UltraTech Cement) and merged Indian Aluminium Company with Hindalco
- 2007: Hindalco acquired Novelis Inc (global leader in aluminium rolled products)
- 2012: Acquired Future Group’s Pantaloon Retail
- 2013: Aditya Birla Chemicals acquired chlor-alkali and phosphoric acid units of Solaris Chemtech
- 2017: UltraTech Cement acquired Jaiprakash Associates’ cement plants, and Birla revived Applause Entertainment (content and media venture)
- 2018: Idea Cellular merged with Vodafone India, forming Vodafone Idea, India’s largest telecom provider