The Passing of a ‘Karmayogi’

Industrialist Basant Kumar Birla, who passed away in Mumbai on July 3 at the age of 98, was one of India’s sharpest and most respected businessmen of the post-Independence era. BK ‘babu’, as he was fondly called, spent most of his life in Kolkata, overseeing the diversified BK Birla Group, with companies such as Kesoram Industries, which makes cement, tyres and rayon; Century Textiles; nylon filament yarn-maker Century Enka and Jay Shree Tea.

Born as the youngest son to philanthropist Ghanshyam Das Birla on January 12, 1921, BK entered the family business at 18, later playing a key role in launching a host of ventures for the group. He was considered a ‘businessman with a heart’ who led an austere life and pursued the violin and photography in his leisure time. A passion for education saw him support nearly 25 institutions, including the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani; Kolkata’s Birla Institute of Liberal Arts and Management Science and the BK Birla Centre for Education in Pune. Wife

Sarala Birla, who he termed his ‘friend, philosopher and guide’, shared his interest in education. She passed away in 2015 at 91.

Birla is survived by daughters Manjushree Khaitan and Jayshree Mohta, who run Kesoram Industries and Jay Shree Tea, respectively. Son Aditya Vikram Birla, father of Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, passed away in 1995 at the age of 52. In a letter to Kumar Mangalam Birla, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said B.K. Birla “did an excellent job of consolidating the industries his family was already associated with. His spirit of enterprise truly shone through in the way he expanded his footprint into new domains and new geographies”.

According to industrialist Harsh Goenka, BK had the mind of a genius and could spot balance sheet errors in minutes. A patron of the arts, his collection of works included the likes of Rabindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy and Nandalal Bose. In his death, Indian industry has lost a ‘karmayogi’ who remained a non-executive chairman till his death and attended office even in his mid-80s.

Passionate about education, B.K. Birla supported 25 institutions across the country