Hinduism - Who Was Ghanshyamdas Birla?









Ghanshyamdas Birla (1894–1983) was the Birla industrial family's patriarch. 





The Birlas earned their wealth through the opium trade in the early twentieth century, then moved on to a number of other industrial enterprises. 






  • Ghanshyamdas was a personal friend of Mohandas K. Gandhi and a significant financial backer of Gandhi's political party, the Indian National Congress, to which Birla had donated an estimated 100 million rupees by the time India gained independence. 
  • In his latter years, he spent a lot of money and time constructing temples, establishing religious and philanthropic trusts, and doing other good things.




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