“You can call me any time. I have this reputation of being easily accessible,” chuckled Swraj Paul before hanging up the phone after an interview with this newspaper some years back.

Even though based out of London from 1966 onwards, Paul was heavily invested in India, financially and emotionally. He had a strong bond with Calcutta where he first dabbled in business with his elder brother Jit Paul and later married a lady from this city.

The connection broke on Thursday evening in London when Lord Swraj Paul, the Jalandhar-born steel tycoon who became a leading member of Britain’s Asian community and a Labour party supporter, breathed his last. Paul was 94, and survived by his two sons, daughter and grandkids.

Born on February 18, 1931 to Pyare Lal, who ran a small foundry that used to make steel goods, including buckets and other farming equipment, Swraj was third among four brothers.

After completing high school education at Jalandhar and a bachelors in science from Panjab University in 1949, he went to the US to pursue his bachelors and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He came to Calcutta in the fifties to join his brother Jit who had by then built a steel trading business and set up a rolling mill in Khidderpore.

Paul left for London in 1966 for his daughter Ambika’s treatment as she was suffering from leukaemia. She died a year later at the age of four.

The tragedy did not put him down for long. He laid the foundation to set up Caparo in 1968 with its headquarters in London and it went on to become one of the largest steel conversion and distribution businesses in the UK.

Today, Caparo, which has a turnover of over $1 billion, is managed by his three children — Ambar, Akash and Anjli Paul — and operates internationally from over 40 sites, serving customers globally, primarily from operations based in the UK, North America, India, and West Asia.

He founded the Indo-British Association in 1975 to promote better understanding between India and Britain and served as its chairman. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1978 and became Lord Paul of Marylebone and a member of the House of Lords. Paul was conferred with the prestigious civilian award Padma Bhushan by the government of India in 1983.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee paid their tribute on X. “Deeply saddened by the passing of Shri Swraj Paul Ji. His contributions to industry, 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,” Modi wrote on X.

Banerjee said, “Deeply saddened by the demise of Swraj Paul ji. He was a business tycoon, a formidable industrialist, a philanthropist, and an icon of the global Indian diaspora with deep Kolkata connections. I knew him well and received his affection. We had interacted on joint efforts to develop Bengal.”