Krishna Kumar Birla Biography 
Dr. Krishna Kumar Birla, also known as K. K. Birla was an industrialist of the Birla business family. He was the son of business typhoon Ghanshyam Das Birla and his second wife Mahadevi Birla. He along with his brother Basant Kumar Birla, both from second marriage carried forward the business legacy. He is also known for breaking family traditions where woman members were not allowed to join family business. He introduced his daughter Shobhana Bhartia into the media wing of Birla family, and now she is a prominent figure of Indian media. Aditya Vikram Birla is his nephew while Kumar Mangalam Birla is his grand-nephew who currently is the most prominent member of the family.
Krishna Kumar Birla was born on 11 November 1918 in Pilani, Rajasthan. He was born as the fourth generation member of Birla industrial family, which began cotton trading in the 1850s, and now has spanned into 7th generation. Baldeo Das Birla was his grandfather and Shiv Narain Birla, the first business member of Birla family was his grandfather. He had one older brother, Shrinivas Birla, born to the first wife of Ghanshyam Das Birla. He had three more sisters. His father was a prominent business figure of 20th century and Padma Vibhushan recipient, with close links to Mahatma Gandhi and Congress. Krishna Kumar joined Congress Party in 1984 and served as its lifetime member, while his daughter Shobhana Bhartia has been nominated to Upper House of parliament in 2006.
Following family legacy, he joined family business. He is known for supporting economic reforms in India in 1991, which brought great changes in Indian economy. Birla established the K.K. Birla Foundation to promote Hindi literature and also served as the chairman of the Hindustan Times. He has been a board member of State Bank of India and ICICI, and many other organizations. He passed away on 30 August 2008.
Published: August 24, 2019
Updated: August 24, 2019
