India, Nov. 4 -- Gopichand Parmanand Hinduja, the billionaire co-chairman of the Hinduja Group and one of Britain's richest men, died in London at the age of 85.

The second of the four Hinduja brothers, Gopichand Hinduja played a key role in transforming the family's trading business into a global conglomerate with interests spanning automobiles, oil, banking, and healthcare.

Gopichand Hinduja was born into a Sindhi-business family led by his father, Parmanand Deepchand Hinduja. After graduating from Bombay's Jai Hind College, he entered the family business in Mumbai in 1959, helping extend operations from India into the Middle East and Europe.

Over the decades, he was based in London (having taken British citizenship in 1997) while jo...