SAMBALPUR: Girish Mohan Gupta of Sambalpur is made up of special grey matter. At an age when people enter the prime of retired life, the 84-year-old has just got no chill, literally. He has bagged an MBA degree from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management at Sambalpur (IIM-S) recently, and already on for his next pursuit of earning a PhD in management.
An entrepreneur and atomic scientist for over four decades, Gupta has been a familiar face in industrial and defence circles, and also a philanthropist. But his passion for learning has set him on an unstoppable voyage of pursuing different educational courses and gaining degrees.
He joined IIM-Sambalpur’s MBA for Working Professionals programme, attending classes every weekend at its Delhi campus. Despite his age, he was among the most regular attendees in his batch, earning a 7.4 CGPA. He received his degree at the institute’s convocation on Sambalpur campus on April 19, 2025.
Prior to this, he had completed his MTech at the age of 71 from CMJ University, Meghalaya in 2012 and also got a PhD in mechanical engineering at the age of 77 from JS University, UP, in 2018. He now plans to pursue another PhD from IIM-Sambalpur.
“I never let age come between me and my curiosity. I love sports, I swim regularly, I play badminton. Fitness and learning have both been constants in my life,” he shares.
Based in Delhi, Gupta’s family includes his wife, four children, and six grandchildren. His lifelong commitment to learning echoes in the values he instilled in his family with all the successors making significant achievements in their academic careers. Seven of his children and grandchildren have studied abroad, but with one clear condition, “they must return to India and contribute to their country.”
Born in pre-Independence India in Dibai village, Bulandshahr district of UP, Gupta began his professional journey as a trainee at Delhi Cloth Mills after completing mechanical engineering from Aligarh Muslim University. Rising to the general manager rank in 14 years, he later landed a job in the US in 1979. However, he chose to return to India in 1982, forfeiting his Green Card, driven by a vision to contribute to his country’s interests.
His company, Global Engineers Limited, began with defence manufacturing. One of his earliest innovations was the indigenously developed ‘punched tape concertina coil’ used for securing the Indo-Pak border during the insurgency in Punjab. For this, he was conferred the national award in 1986 by the President of India.
Gupta vividly recalls his early days working on highly sensitive nuclear projects. “During one of my first assignments at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), I had to work on sodium-based equipment for a fast breeder reactor. The reactor used thorium-a fuel source India holds in abundance,” he said.
He successfully designed major components for the 25 MW pilot fast breeder reactor at NPCIL Kalpakkam - one of only two such reactors globally, the other being in France.
Over the years, he has diversified into several sectors. From fully-automated surface treatment plants for Indian Ordnance Factories and Indian Railways to painting plants that replaced hazardous manual systems in 28 railway workshops - his technical interventions have impacted both workers’ safety and operational efficiency. He also executed turnkey projects for manufacturing nitrocellulose-based propellants used in medium-range ammunition in collaboration with Austrian partners.
Through his flagship firm and subsidiaries like Zeno Engineering, Ann FMCG, and Bowas Global, among others, he has not only contributed Rs 1020.22 crore to the Indian economy as turnover but also created approximately 345 jobs annually. According to company records, his efforts have saved over Rs 500 crore in foreign exchange since 1983. Over time, several of these businesses have been passed on to his successors, while Gupta now focuses solely on Global Engineers Limited as its chairperson.
Yet, amid all the professional engagements, he is not willing to let go of his quest for learning. “It will continue till my last,” he says.