Great champion of India-UK ties: Tributes pour in for G P Hinduja

A great champion of closer India-UK ties and a guiding force for the British Indian community is how G P Hinduja is being described in tributes pouring in after he died in London on Tuesday. He was 85.

The chairman of the Hinduja Group was among the UK's richest industrialists and a regular feature in the annual ‘Sunday Times Rich List', topping this year's tally for the fourth consecutive year with an estimated fortune of GBP 35.3 billion.

Lord Karan Bilimoria, founder of Cobra Beer, believes the entrepreneur will be remembered as someone who "personified" the India-UK living bridge.

"GP was the driving force of the Hinduja global empire, headquartered here in the UK. The Hindujas were one of the first families to make a major acquisition as a multinational in India when they bought Ashok Leyland, one of India's largest engineering, manufacturing and transport companies, which they built into a huge success,” said Lord Bilimoria.

“That link between the UK and India, whether it was in banking, whether it was in manufacturing, whether it was in property, they were always putting the UK and India together… And, GP was not only a famous and respected individual in the UK and India but a great champion for our two countries. We shall miss him greatly,” he said.

Another British Indian House of Lords peer and close associate of G P Hinduja, Rami Ranger, described his passing away as an “end of an era”.

"He was one of the most gracious, humble, and loyal friends. His passing marks the end of an era, as he was truly a well-wisher of the community and a guiding force,” said Lord Ranger.

"I had the privilege of knowing him over many years; his qualities were unique — tremendous sense of humour, commitment to the community and country, India — and he always supported good causes. He has left a huge vacuum behind that will be difficult to fill,” he said.

G P Hinduja, or GP as he was popularly known, often addressed gatherings in London to exhort businesses to invest in the booming Indian market. He was the recipient of a string of awards over the years, most recently a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to business and industry at the Lokmat Global Economic Convention in London in August.

His elder brother and the group's co-chairman, S.P. Hinduja, had passed away in May 2023. Together, the Hinduja brothers, also including Prakash and Ashok, were among the most well-known Indian-origin business families in Britain.

The family's group of companies operates in 48 countries and across automotive, oil and speciality chemicals, banking and finance, IT, cybersecurity, healthcare, trading, infrastructure project development, media and entertainment, power, and real estate.

The last major project G P Hinduja oversaw was the transformation of Winston Churchill's Old War Office into a luxury OWO Raffles hotel in central London.

"We have always been working to see what best we can do between India and the UK because we believe our responsibility is to act as a bridge between the host country and the motherland," G P Hinduja told PTI at the grand launch ceremony in September 2023.

"It took us eight years and in these eight years we had a lot to do, but finally this iconic building has been converted into peace and solace, not World Wars. It is the legacy not only of the Hinduja Group, but London as a great destination. Everyone who lands in London will first come here to see what it is,” he said.

Last year, he announced a new partnership with King's College London aimed at improving healthcare outcomes in India and the UK, through the Hinduja-King's Health Partners Academy.

“We see this as part of a long-term partnership to bring real positive healthcare and research outcomes to benefit India and the UK,” he said at the time.