Ghanshyamdas Birla (1894–1983) was the Birla industrial family's patriarch.
The Birlas earned their wealth through the opium trade in the early twentieth century, then moved on to a number of other industrial enterprises.
- Ghanshyamdas was a personal friend of Mohandas K. Gandhi and a significant financial backer of Gandhi's political party, the Indian National Congress, to which Birla had donated an estimated 100 million rupees by the time India gained independence.
- In his latter years, he spent a lot of money and time constructing temples, establishing religious and philanthropic trusts, and doing other good things.
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