most of his companies to his grandson Aditya. With Aditya Vikram Birla as the chairman, the Birla group of companies success expanded Hindustan Gas and rescued Indo-Gulf Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd. Death In 1993, Birla was diagnosed with prostate cancer. His aged father and young son took over many of the responsibilities of the group. The best medical treatment for prostate cancer was arranged for Birla, and including at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore US. He spent many months at that facility, and it was there that he died on 1 October 1995. He was survived by both his parents, his wife and both his children, as also by two sisters and a daughter-in-law. Former Indian Prime Minister (then Finance Minister) Manmohan Singh called Mr. Birla "among the best and brightest citizens of India." While battling cancer Birla's great concern was to see his daughter married. Towards this, he took recourse to long-standing friendship with the Bajaj family, the descendants of Jamnalal Bajaj, who had been a close friend of Ghanshyamdas Birla. Birla arranged for his daughter Vasavadatta to marry Kushagra Bajaj, son of Shishir Bajaj (Rahul Bajaj's younger brother) of the Bajaj family. He witnessed their engagement ceremony but not their wedding. The wedding could not be held immediately because the couple, both born in 1976, were still underage. The couple were married in 1997. Legacy His group instituted the Aditya Birla Scholarships in his memory. Every year more than 40 scholars from among seven Indian Institutes of Management, seven Indian Institutes of Technology, Birla Institute of Technology and Science and Faculty of Management Studies (Delhi) receive this scholarship. From the 2012–13-year onwards, this scholarship was extended to 4 law campuses as well. Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital in Pimpri-Chinchwad has been named after him. The Aditya Vikram Birla won Kalashikhar and Kalakiran Puraskar awards for excellence in theatre and performing arts are given every year, were instituted in 1996 by the Sangeet Kala Kendra (SKK), which was founded in 1973 by Aditya Vikram Birla to encourage performing arts. A special commemorative stamp has been released by Government of India in the name of Aditya Vikram Birla on 14 January 2013, honouring him as "India's first global industrialist". Biography Aditya Vikram Birla, a biography by Minhaz Merchant. Notes and references A special commemorative stamp issued by postal department of India on Aditya vikram Birla External links A V Birla