Ghanshamdas Birla is one of the pioneers of Indian industrialisation. But he was more than just an industrialist, he was a visionary, a freedom fighter and much more. He was very close to Gandhiji. He was consistent in his fight for the interests of the emerging Indian industrial capitalism. It was his prescription for fiscal autonomy, that the came out with in 1920-21, that ensured full protection to Indian industry. He was in the forefront of the campaign against the government's currency policy. In the second round table conference, he worked hard against inclusion financial safeguards in what later became the Government of India Act of 1935.

G. D. Birla became a member of the Assembly in 1926 from Benares - Gorakhpur constituency on the ticket of Madan Mohan Malaviya and Lala Lajput Rai's Nationalist Party. On contesting with a Nationalist Party ticket, he came to loggerheads with Motilal Nehru. G D, in fact, had a tremendous distrust for swarajists. And his distrust for them was not entirely misplaced. The government had brought before the assembly two Bills in 1929, the Public Safety Bill and the Trades Disputes Bill. The Swarajists opposed them while the Bombay millowners supported them. The communists were arrested in the Meerut conspiracy case and industrial peace were restored in Bombay after a wave of protests in 1928. Motilal Nehru, came out in support for the communists. This angered Motilal. Subsequently, G.D. felt that Lajpat Rai and his party would not be able to deliver the goods and he tilted towards the congress.

In the early thirties, G. D. went to England to influence those who were involved in making Indian policy. He kept Gandhiji informed of the developments of England. G. D. enjoyed the trust of many Congress leaders. G.D had a particularly close relation Sardar Patel, Jayprakash Narayan and Bidhan Chandra Roy. G. D worked all along for a British - Congress reconciliation. During the war, the need for maintaining constant war supplies opened new opportunities for Indian industries. Nobody was more conscious of the limitations of his influence than Birla himself, as he wrote in one of his letters, and for him, the interests of Indian industries were supreme. It was G.D. who once defied Gandhiji's wishes and accompanied a delegation of leading Indian industrialists to England and America to arrange for a post-war economic collaboration.

It was G. D Birla who succeeded in weaning away the congress from the path of struggle after the collapse of the 1930 and 1932 movements. These movements had created additional problems for the Indian industry. The Indian industries were already suffering due the effects of the Great Depression. It was G.D. who brokered maximum fiscal autonomy on the one hand and provincial autonomy on the other to facilitate industrial growth.

Later, G.D came at loggerheads with Jawaharlal Nehru. The Congress, call for endless movements and hartals dealt a severe blow to the Bombay industrialists. Nehru's speeches in industries were already suffering from the effects of a worldwide depression and Nehru's movements only made matters worse. Moreover, the spectre of communism also haunted than and Nehru's speeches were a red rag to them. Thus, Nehru was severely criticised.

This was how Birla shaped the policies of the Congress. Even in post-independent India, he played a dominant role in shaping India's industries. With the death of G.D., the Birlas lost a banyan tree who protected his extended family with an eagle eye. During his lifeti,e he distributed all his properties among his sons and grandsons. His towering personality kept the family together. Even the most difficult problems were sorted out amicably. It was his farsightedness that helped his family to remain at the helm of India's industrial scene even long after his death. This, G.D. was not merely an industrialist, he was a politician with a vision.