Aditya Vikram Birla

January 14, 2013

A commemorative postage stamp on Aditya Birla, an Indian industrialist, former chairman of Aditya Birla Group :

Issued by India

Issued on Jan 14, 2013

Issued for : Department of Posts is happy to release a Commemorative Postage Stamp in honour of Aditya Vikram Birla.

Credits :
Stamp/FDC : Kamleshwar Singh
Cancellation : Nenu Gupta

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.31 Million

Sheetlet : 0.1 Million (0.06 million for the proponent)

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

Name : Aditya Vikram Birla

Born on Nov 14, 1943 at Kolkata, India

Died on Oct 1, 1995 at Baltimore, Maryland, United States

About :

Aditya Vikram Birla (1943-1995) was born on 14^th November, 1943 at New Delhi. An industrialist of extraordinary vision who made a pioneering contribution to the expansion of Indian economic activity beyond the country’s borders.
Aditya was born into a family known for entrepreneurial brilliance, his father Basant Kumar Birla and grandfather Ghanshyam Das Birla both having been among the prominent industrialists of their respective generation. They were also closely associated with Mahatma Gandhi and played an active role in the Indian freedom struggle.
Aditya, after completing his schooling and graduation in his hometown of Calcutta, earned a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. He was married to Rajashree.
The death of his grandfather in 1983 saw a relatively young Aditya Birla being catapulted onto the centre-stage of Indian corporate sector. He was called upon to take charge of most of the companies of the Birla group. Aditya rose to the challenge and provided able and effective leadership to the business conglomerate. Constituents of the group like Hindustan Gas, Hindalco, Grasim, Indian Rayon and Indo-Gulf Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd. soon came to be recognized as being among the best managed enterprises in the country.
What set Aditya Birla apart from his contemporaries was his international vision. He boldly ventured into overseas territories, and set up 19 companies in countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Egypt. These companies operated in sectors like Textiles, Viscose Staple Fibre, Carbon Black, Chemicals and Petro-refining, which were at the core of the global economy. The contribution of the companies of Aditya Birla‘s group to the Indian economy was significant.
Aditya Birla occupied many positions in public life. Bodies like the FICCI, Asian Institute of Management, Manila and the India Fund, of which he held membership, gained from his efforts and insights. Because of his exemplary leadership and global vision he was nominated as a Director on the Board of Reserve Bank of India, became the Honorary Counsel General of the Republic of Philippines and was invited as one of the Advisor to the Economic Council of the Prime Minister of India. He was also known for his interest in painting, music and badminton.
Aditya Birla was a man with a strong social consciousness. With the objective of making difference to the lives of the underprivileged, he committed the companies of his group to adopting villages. The villages so adopted were transformed by programmes that facilitated self-employment, promoted adoption of modern methods of agriculture and introduction of vocational training, supported provision of health care facilities and encouraged development of cottage industries.
He passed away on 1^st October, 1995.
Text : P.N. Ranjit Kumar (Based on the material provided by the proponent).