Gopichand Parmanand Hinduja, the Indian-British billionaire who co-chaired the global conglomerate Hinduja Group and headed the United Kingdom's wealthiest family, died on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, in London. He was 85 and had been unwell for several weeks, according to family sources.

Known as 'GP', Hinduja, along with his brothers, was instrumental in transforming a modest family trading business, founded by their father Parmanand Deepchand Hinduja in 1914, into a multinational powerhouse with operations in 11 sectors, including automotive, banking, oil and gas, and media. The Hinduja family was ranked as the UK's richest for the fourth consecutive year in May 2025, with an estimated fortune of £35.3 billion, according to The Sunday Times Rich List. The group employs over 200,000 people across 48 countries.

Gopichand Hinduja assumed the role of chairman in May 2023, following the death of his elder brother, Srichand 'S.P.' Hinduja. His leadership was marked by significant acquisitions that defined the group's modern structure, including Gulf Oil in 1984 and the Indian automotive giant Ashok Leyland in 1987.

Kenya and East Africa: A Strategic Hub

While the Hinduja empire is headquartered in London, its strategic vision has increasingly focused on Africa, with Kenya identified as a key operational hub. As early as 2013, Gopichand Hinduja publicly stated the group's intention to establish business hubs in Kenya to serve the East African market. "We are trying to create our business hubs in Kenya and in East Africa," he told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos that year.

The conglomerate's interest extends across several of its core sectors, including transport, infrastructure, IT, and lubricants. In 2015, company officials reiterated these plans, announcing a prospective $1 billion investment across Africa over five years, with Prakash Hinduja, Gopichand's younger brother, specifying Kenya as the designated "anchor hub" for the East Africa region.

The most visible aspect of the Hinduja Group's presence in Kenya is through its flagship automotive brand, Ashok Leyland. The company's trucks and buses are sold locally through an authorized distributor, Deluxe Trucks & Buses E.A. Ltd, located on Mombasa Road in Nairobi. In 2020, reports emerged that Ashok Leyland was considering setting up a KSh 500 million vehicle assembly plant in Kenya to serve the wider region, aiming to compete with Chinese and European manufacturers in the commercial vehicle segment. The plan involved shipping complete knock-down (CKD) kits for local assembly, a move that would align with Kenya's industrialisation goals.

Global Legacy and Future Direction

Gopichand Hinduja's passing marks the end of an era for the second generation of the family that drove its global expansion after moving its headquarters from Iran to London in 1979. Tributes from global business and political leaders highlighted his role in strengthening economic ties between India and the UK. Lord Karan Bilimoria, founder of Cobra Beer, said Hinduja "personified" the links between the two nations.

The leadership succession of the vast conglomerate is not yet publicly confirmed. Gopichand's younger brothers, Prakash and Ashok, remain in senior roles, with Ashok Hinduja overseeing the group's interests in India. The death comes after a period of internal legal disputes among the brothers over the group's assets, which were reportedly resolved in 2022. The future direction of the group's ambitious plans for Africa, including the proposed investments anchored in Kenya, will now be watched closely by regional business leaders and policymakers.