Kolkata, March 6: Industrialist G.P. Birla, the head of the GP-CK Birla Group, passed away at his residence late Friday night after a prolonged illness, family sources said here on Saturday. The 87-year-old G.P. Birla is survived by wife Nirmala, son C.K. Birla and daughter Lekha Poddar.

G.P. Birla was the grandson of Raja Baldeo Das Birla, founder of one of India’s most prominent industrial families and the son of the late Braj Mohan Birla. He built a separate business empire with his son C.K. Birla.
The GP-CK Birla Group has diversified business activities across four continents in both the manufacturing and service sectors. The manufacturing activities of the group include  automobiles and components, engineering products, building products, industrial chemicals and paper.
The group companies are Hindustan Motors Ltd, Hyderabad Industries Ltd, Orient Paper & Industries Limited and Indian Smelting & Refining Co. Ltd. The IT service provider Birlasoft Ltd also belongs to the group. The overseas companies under the group include Panafrican Paper Mills Ltd and Nigeria Engineering Works Ltd.
The group also runs a hospital and educational and scientific institutes in India, like the B.M. Birla Heart Research Centre and the Calcutta Medical Research Institute.

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