B M Birla - Economic and Social Achievements and Contributions
B M BIRLA
Braj Mohan Birla, popularly known as B M Birla was the youngest of four sons of Baldev Das Birla. As an industrialist, he championed private enterprise, free competition & encouragement to private foreign investment. Although, his advocacy of capitalism was based not on its benefits to the capitalist but on the ground that it would benefit the masses.
He admired USA for being a great economic and political power and believed that similar policies would elicit India’s emergence as a rich & powerful nation. Hence, he advocated foreign inflow of capital to solve the problem of scarcity of capital and resources. He was left by GD Birla, his elder brother who was actively involved in political matters, the task of consolidation of commercial & industrial activities, which by now had put a strong foot forward in the industry. His achievements and contributions can be broadly categorized into the following three domains:-
ECONOMIC:-
Handed the task of consolidation of the Birla Empire; with his prudence and intelligence he was not only able to expand it but also made a name for the Birlas in the international arena.
He settled in Calcutta in 1918 & made the city the headquarters of his operations. In 1926, at the age of 21, he was appointed as the MD of Birla Brothers Pvt Ltd. Owing to his interest in oil operations; he acquired for the company the sole distribution rights of Richfield Oil Company of California. He appointed 500 workers & 4 baniyas. Considerable exploration tasks were carried under his leadership at Ankleshwar, where subsequently a Public Sector Refinery was set up.
He looked beyond jute & cotton industries which were already set up by GD. He launched new industrial & service lines in sugar, paper & insurance. First sugar mill was built by him at Sidhwala in Bihar & second was started at Seohara in UP. He established paper factory in Brajrajnagar, Orissa in 1939 which, in turn, established another
Braj Mohan Birla, popularly known as B M Birla was the youngest of four sons of Baldev Das Birla. As an industrialist, he championed private enterprise, free competition & encouragement to private foreign investment. Although, his advocacy of capitalism was based not on its benefits to the capitalist but on the ground that it would benefit the masses.
He admired USA for being a great economic and political power and believed that similar policies would elicit India’s emergence as a rich & powerful nation. Hence, he advocated foreign inflow of capital to solve the problem of scarcity of capital and resources. He was left by GD Birla, his elder brother who was actively involved in political matters, the task of consolidation of commercial & industrial activities, which by now had put a strong foot forward in the industry. His achievements and contributions can be broadly categorized into the following three domains:-
ECONOMIC:-
Handed the task of consolidation of the Birla Empire; with his prudence and intelligence he was not only able to expand it but also made a name for the Birlas in the international arena.
He settled in Calcutta in 1918 & made the city the headquarters of his operations. In 1926, at the age of 21, he was appointed as the MD of Birla Brothers Pvt Ltd. Owing to his interest in oil operations; he acquired for the company the sole distribution rights of Richfield Oil Company of California. He appointed 500 workers & 4 baniyas. Considerable exploration tasks were carried under his leadership at Ankleshwar, where subsequently a Public Sector Refinery was set up.
He looked beyond jute & cotton industries which were already set up by GD. He launched new industrial & service lines in sugar, paper & insurance. First sugar mill was built by him at Sidhwala in Bihar & second was started at Seohara in UP. He established paper factory in Brajrajnagar, Orissa in 1939 which, in turn, established another