Business doyen K K Birla dead

Kolkata, Aug 30 : Dr. Krishna Kumar Birla, the noted industrialist of the Birla family, died at his residence after a brief illness on Saturday morning. He was 90.

He served as a Member of the Rajya Sabha, and is survived by three daughters Nandini Nupani, Shobhana Bhartia, who is the vice chairperson and editorial adviser of Hindustan Times and Saroj Potddar.

Birla, who was the Chairman of Hindustan Times and several Birla Group of industries, was ill for the last fortnight.

His wife Manorama Devi Birla died about a month ago.

The eldest son of Ghanshyam Das Birla was born in Pilani, Rajasthan, on October 12, 1918.

He was the group chairman of the Zuari-Chambal Group, which had a turnover of Rs.10,000 crores. He was also the Chairman of ZUARI-CHAMBAL-PARADEEP, India's largest fertilizer combine in private sector.

Birla was a Rajya Sabha MP for 18 consecutive years. In 1961, he was elected Sheriff of Calcutta. In 1997, he was conferred Doctor of Letters by Pondicherry University.

In 1991, he established the K.K. Birla Foundation to promote Hindi literature and was the Chancellor of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science at Pilani.

He has headed a number of Chambers of Commerce such as Indian Sugar Mills Association, Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

ANI