Mining baron, Anil Agarwal's father, Dwarka Prasad Agarwal, has died. He was 87.

"Deeply shocked & saddened by the passing away of my beloved father, Sri Dwarka Prasad Agarwal. An irreplaceable loss to me and my family," Agarwal, Executive Chairman of Vedanta Resources Ltd tweeted.

Agarwal, who made his first fortune in scrap metal, grew up in Patna where his father made aluminum conductors in initial years.

For the last three decades, senior Agarwal was associated with the Vedanta Foundation - the philanthropy arm of the Vedanta Group. He died in Mumbai on Thursday afternoon and his last rites are scheduled for Friday.

Anil Agarwal, who was in London when his father passed away, is flying to India.

People in the know said senior Agarwal led a very active life and did a lot of charity and philanthropy work. He led a very active social life, looking after educational institutes run by Vedanta Foundation. He regularly attended office and monitored Vedanta Foundation's work.

"Babuji had always been my guiding light, not a day went by when I didn't speak to him, seek his guidance & blessings," Anil Agrawal tweeted. "He touched and inspired many lives with his selfless work for communities. He will always remain with us and bless us as we try and follow his path."

Anil Agarwal, who turned a tiny scrap metal business into London-headquartered Vedanta Resources, was ranked 38th richest Indian on the Forbes rich list in 2019

(With PTI inputs)

First Published:Jan 2, 2020 9:47 PM IST