Gujarmal Modi

Gujarmal Modi (9 August 1902 – 22 January 1976) was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist, who co-established the Modi Group of companies and the industrial city of Modinagar in 1933, along with his brother Kedar Nath Modi. A sugar mill in Modinagar marked the beginning of the Modi Group conglomerate, which later diversified into varied fields. GM Modi established schools and colleges at his birthplace, Mahendragarh, in Patiala and in Modinagar. He also contributed in the field of higher education by giving grants to established institutions such as Banaras Hindu University, and different colleges in Meerut and other places. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 1968. He is the grandfather of Lalit Modi, the founder of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Early life Gujarmal Modi was born as Ram Prasad Modi on 9 August 1902, in Mahendragarh (now in Haryana state) to a Marwari Family. He was the second child of his father, Multani Mal Modi, and the only child of his mother, Chandi Devi, who was Multani Mal's second wife. Chandi Devi died of sepsis only six days after the birth of Gujarmal. Multani Mal then married a third time, and it was his step-mother, Gujri Devi, who reared Gujarmal. All his life, Gujarmal was to share a relationship of great affection and attachment with his step-mother. He gave up his real name (Ram Prasad) in favour of the name "Gujarmal," which he selected in honour of his step-mother. During his time studying in the tenth standard, Gujarmal neglected to pay his examination fees, which resulted in the loss of an academic year. This incident led to his father inducting Gujarmal into the family business at a young age while simultaneously being home-schooled.