Trailblazer who carved his own path, served as key link between India, UK

philanthropy and public service in the UK, and his unwavering support for closer ties with India will always be remembered. I fondly recall our many interactions. Condolences to his family and admirers. Om Shanti,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X.

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Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge condoled the death. “A philanthropist, politician and Padma Bhushan recipient, he was a lifelong friend of India in the UK. His association with Former PM Smt. Indira Gandhi has been valuable,” he posted.

Paul, whose father ran a small foundry for steel goods and buckets, completed high school in Jalandhar and secured a degree in science from Punjab University in 1949. He then travelled to the US to pursue degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After completing his studies, he returned to India to join the family business, Apeejay Surrendra Group —one of India’s oldest business conglomerates.

But in 1966, he was forced to relocate to the US in pursuit of treatment for his daughter Ambika who was suffering from leukaemia. Unfortunately, she died aged four.

Paul would later set up the Ambika Paul Foundation that donated millions to promote the wellbeing of children and young people through education and health initiatives. The Ambika Paul Children’s Zoo in London is one of the major beneficiaries of the foundation.

Paul grieved his daughter for a year, but was saved by meditation and reading philosophy, and slowly started making peace with himself. He began taking an interest in the UK economy, identifying a gap in the market for gas tubes, the Guardian wrote in a 2008 profile.