Tea industry giant Brij Mohan passes away

Brij MohanKhaitan, who was a giant of tea industry and also had a long association withAssam through the business of tea passed away on Saturday. He was 92 at thetime of his death.

Brij Mohanbreathed his last at his residence at Queens Park in Kolkata on Saturdaymorning leaving behind his son Aditya, daughter Divya and grandson Amritanshu.

Khaitan wasthe chairman of the Williamson Magor group and had built a sprawling businessempire ranging from tea to battery and engineering during his course of life asa businessman. He also once owned several tea gardens in Assam but many of themhave to be disposed later to clear the debts.

At the earlyage when he started his business, he also owned a fertilizer company at Sooteain Assam. According to reports, the cordial relations with the Magors which hestarted his business in the very first turned sour in 2001 leading to a hostileand unpleasant crack but Khaitan bounced back within four years taking over thetea business from Philip Magor's Williamson Tea Assam and turned it into thelargest bulk tea producer in the world.

He was also instrumentalin establishing the Assam Valley School in Tezpur and was considered as one ofthe founder architects of the residential school in Assam.