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New Delhi: Srichand Parmanand Hinduja, chairman of the Hinduja Group and the eldest of the four Hinduja brothers, died in London on Wednesday. He was 87 years old. A spokesperson for the Hinduja family informed of his death. Hinduja was running ill for some time. Born in Karachi, Pakistan, Srichand Hinduja later took British citizenship and lived in London.
A company spokesperson said, “The entire Hinduja family, including Gopichand, Prakash and Ashok Hinduja, informs with great sadness that the head of the family and Chairman of the Hinduja Group, SP Hinduja, has passed away. He has returned to the UK, where he lived. He was instrumental in strengthening ties between India, his home country, and India. As the patriarch of our family and carrying forward the principles and values of our late father PD Hinduja, he was a visionary.”
Born into a business family in Karachi, undivided India, Hinduja’s first success in the business world came from the international distribution rights of the Hindi film Sangam. After this, he wrote many articles of success together with his younger brothers. However, he also had to face controversies when his name came up in the Bofors scam.
SP Hinduja and his two brothers were accused of taking illegal commission of Rs 64 crore in the Bofors gun purchase. However, the three Hinduja brothers were acquitted by the Delhi High Court in the year 2005 due to lack of evidence. His wife Madhu died last January at the age of 82. He is survived by two daughters- Shanu and Veenu.
The foundation of Hinduja’s business empire was laid by his father Parmanand Deepchand Hinduja. He used to trade goods in Sindh area (now in Pakistan) but later he went to Iran and started doing business.
Young Srichand achieved his first major success in 1964 by distributing the film Sangam in West Asian countries. After deepening Indira Gandhi’s disagreement with the Shah of Iran over oil prices, the Hinduja brothers got an offer from the government there to increase the export of Indian products to Iran, so they took full advantage of it and started doing business ranging from iron ore to commodities.
In the year 1980, he acquired a stake in India’s truck and bus manufacturer Ashok Leyland. Apart from this, he also entered the oil and lubricants business by taking control of Gulf Oil from Chevron Corp. SP Hinduja also forayed into the banking sector by starting IndusInd Bank in 1993. The then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh was also invited at the inauguration of the bank.
He also founded SP Hinduja Bank Privé in Geneva, Switzerland, the only Swiss bank owned by an Indian. The bank also has branches in Zurich, London and Dubai which provides investment advisory and wealth management services to top industrialists and entrepreneurs.
Though the Hinduja brothers have been reluctant to discuss their assets openly, they have had legal battles in UK courts over family assets.
By the way, this family has been a bit more vocal about its political relations. It has had ties to prominent world leaders, from the then Shah of Iran to former US President George Bush Sr. and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. In 2006, the Hinduja brothers bought a large 25-bedroom house on London’s Carlton House Terrace Street for $58 million.
