Aditya Vikram Birla – Industrialist from the prestigious Birla family of Rajasthan

Aditya Vikram Birla (1943 – 1995) was an industrialist and businessman belonging to Birla family, traditionally associated with business. He was one of the early members from his family who tried with diversifying products and succeeded in this field. He also set up many business organizations and factories outside India, and was one of the early Indian industrialists to do so. He was only 51 when he passed away after diagnosed with prostrate cancer, leaving behind the legacy to his 28 year old less-experienced son Kumar Mangalam Birla, who later expanded the group of companies named as Aditya Birla Group, and the now the group enjoys the third-position in private sector conglomerate in India with a turnover of 41 billion US dollars in 2015.

Aditya Vikram Birla was born in Kolkata in 1943 to industrialists Basant Kumar Birla and Sarala Birla. His grandfather Ghanshyam Das Birla was also a businessman with close association with Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was staying in Birla’s house for the last three months before he was assassinated. Aditya spent his younger days in Kolkata where he completed his studies. Later he moved abroad and studied chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after which he returned to India in 1965 and joined family business. Initially he was associated with textiles sector.

In Kolkata he successfully established Eastern Spinning Mills, after which he decided to diversify his business. He moved to oil business, which was profitable. In 3 decades of his business career, he expanded Birla business family to other countries, and successfully ventured into new sectors also. Through his efforts he was able to put Birla group of industries in India’s corporate map, and after his death in 1995 his son Kumar Mangalam Birla took the organization to new heights. Aditya’s wife Rajashree Birla was a philanthropist and a recipient of Padma Bhushan, and the couple had one son and one daughter.

Aditya Vikram Birla – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. He belongs to the 4^th generation of Birla business empire. The family firm was initially known as Baldeodas Jugalkishore, which was renamed as Birla Brothers Limited in the year 1918. 

2. His father outlived him for nearly 25 years. While Aditya passed away in 1995 in his middle ages, his father died in 2019 aged 98.

3. He was one of the first Indian industrialists to set up factories in South East Asia, Philippines and Egypt.

4. His grandchildren are not associated with his business empire. Among the three kids of Kumar Mangalam Birla, Ananya Birla is a pop singer while Aryaman Birla is a young cricketer.

5. Brajlal Biyani, independent activist is his maternal grandfather.

6. Rameswar Das Birla, Baldeo Das Birla, Krishna Kumar Birla, Ganga Prasad Birla, Chandrakant Birla and Yasovardhan Birla are some other prominent figures of Birla family belonging to different generations. Most of them were associated with business and well-known industrialists.

7. Well-known industrialist Krishna Kumar Birla was his paternal uncle. 

8. His first cousin Shobhana Bhartia (daughter of Krishna Kumar Birla) is perhaps the most prominent female member of Birla family (Rajashree Birla and Sarla Birla being daughter-in-laws). She is the Chairperson and Editorial Director of the Hindustan Times Group, inherited from her father.