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{{Short description|Indian businessman}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox person/Wikidata | fetchwikidata=ALL
| birth_place = Calcutta, [[British Raj]]
| death_date =
| death_place = [[New Delhi]], [[India]]
| occupation = [[businessman]]
| spouse = Kanchan Devi
| children = 4, including [[Sri Prakash Lohia|Sri Prakash]] and [[Aloke Lohia]]
}}

'''Mohan Lal Lohia''' (21 December 1930 – 1 June 2017) was an Indian businessman and [[business magnate]], who founded the [[Indorama Corporation]] and the Lohia Foundation. The billionaires, [[Sri Prakash Lohia]] and [[Aloke Lohia]] are his sons.

==Early life and education==
Mohan Lal Lohia was born on 21 December 1930, in [[Ratangarh, Churu|Ratangarh]], Rajasthan, India.<ref name="Biyani2006">{{cite book |last1=Biyani |first1=Prakash |title=Shunya Se Shikhar |date=2006 |publisher=[[Rajkamal Prakashan]] |isbn=978-81-267-0910-6 |pages=171–173 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2zkH70YcauAC&dq=%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%A8+%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B2+%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE&pg=PA171 |language=hi |chapter=16. Shunya Se Shikhar: Indian Corporates}}</ref><ref name=Era>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2017|title=End of an Era|url=https://www.indoramafertilizers.com/images/Obituary%20Ad_for%20web.pdf|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=indoramafertilizers}}</ref> He was educated in [[Jogbani]], near the [[India–Nepal border]].<ref name="Biyani2006"/>

==Career==
In 1950 Lohia travelled to Burma (Myanmar), where he started working as a raw material purchase manager for an embroidery and lace manufacturing production.<ref name="Biyani2006"/> This job frequently took him to other countries such as Singapore and Japan.<ref name="Biyani2006"/> In the same year he started his own business as a textile manufacturer.<ref name="Biyani2006"/> According to his eldest son, Om Prakash, Lohia predicted the reforms passed by the Burmese government in 1963, which ordered foreign manufacturers to vacate their businesses and move out of Burma.<ref name="Biyani2006"/> Prior to that he had already established an embroidery and lace factory in Bangkok and a knitting, weaving and pressing mill in Nepal.<ref name="Biyani2006"/>

In 1973, he co-founded the [[Indorama Corporation]], with his son, Sri Prakash Lohia.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://qz.com/519831/how-this-synthetics-tycoon-went-from-teenage-indian-emigrant-to-one-of-indonesias-richest-men/|title=How this synthetics tycoon went from teenage Indian emigrant to one of Indonesia's richest men|first=Manu|last=Balachandran|date=20 October 2015 |access-date=6 June 2018}}</ref> His son credits the foundation of the Indorama group to his father.<ref name="Biyani2006"/> It was after the 1985 [[Ministry of Textiles|textile policy]], which was introduced by then Indian Prime minister [[Rajiv Gandhi]], that Lohia felt that India became a suitable environment for business and subsequently decided to establish a business in India.<ref name="Biyani2006"/>

In 1991, at the age of 61, he stepped out of the family business to take on an advisory role in business decisions and divided the company between his three sons.<ref name="Biyani2006"/> The eldest was made chief executive officer of Indorama Synthetics in India, Prakash Lohia was handed the Indorama Chemicals based in Thailand, and Ajay Prakash Lohia got the [[Woolworth (India)|Woolworth]] business based in Kolkata.<ref name="Biyani2006"/> Critical decisions continued to require his approval.<ref name="Biyani2006"/>

He is the founder of the Lohia Foundation.<ref name=LF>{{cite web|url=http://www.lohiafoundation.org/ |title=Lohia Foundation |publisher=Lohia Foundation |date=2014-05-29 |access-date=2016-04-08}}</ref> In November 2017, Lohia family had an estimated net worth of US$8.7 billion.<ref name="Forbes profile">{{cite web |title=Forbes profile: Lohia family |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/lohia/ |website=Forbes |access-date=6 June 2018}}</ref> Described as a [[business magnate]], he was named in connection with the [[Panama Papers]].<ref name="indianexpress1"/>

== Personal life and death ==
He was married to Kanchan Devi.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Times of India: Latest News India, World & Business News, Cricket & Sports, Bollywood |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Smt-Kanchan-DeviLohia/tributeshow/53725984.cms |access-date=8 November 2021 |work=The Times of India}}</ref> The billionaires [[Sri Prakash Lohia]] and [[Aloke Lohia]] are their sons.<ref name="bloomberg1">{{cite web|author=Mohan Lal Lohia |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=49438875&privcapId=2534191&previousCapId=40421598&previousTitle=INDORAMA%20VENTURES%20PCL |title=Mohan Lal Lohia: Executive Profile & Biography - Businessweek |website=Bloomberg.com |access-date=2016-04-08}}</ref><ref name="indianexpress1">{{cite news|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/panama-papers-india-part-1-list-garware-shishir-k-bajoria-harish-salve/ |title=#PanamaPapersIndia Part 1: Clients who knocked on a Panama door |newspaper=[[The Indian Express]] |access-date=2016-04-08}}</ref>

He died in New Delhi on 1 June 2017.<ref name=Era/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lohia, Mohan Lal}}
[[Category:1930s births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Kolkata]]
[[Category:People named in the Panama Papers]]
[[Category:Indian billionaires]]
[[Category:Lohia family|Mohan Lal]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]

Mohan Lal Lohia - Revision history

Himanshuucharan: Starting a data w/ refs