India’s ‘Cycle Man’ and founder of Hero Cycles Om Prakash Munjal died at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital in Ludhiana on Thursday morning after a brief illness. He was 86 and is survived by a son and four daughters.

• LUDHIANA/NEW DELHI: India's 'Cycle Man' and founder of Hero Cycles Om Prakash Munjal died at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital in Ludhiana on Thursday morning after a brief illness.

• He was 86 and is survived by a son and four daughters.Munjal not only gave Ludhiana the unique identity of being the city of cycles, but also shaped the industry in the country by entering the international club of leading cycle manufacturers.Born in a small business family in Kamalia on August 26, 1928, Munjal, along with his three brothers Brijmohan Lall, Dayanand and Satyanand started a bicycle spare parts business in Amritsar in 1944.Later they moved to Ludhiana and set up Hero Cycles in 1956.

• There has hardly been a day when I have not learnt something," Munjal had told TOI a few weeks before his death.Fond of poetry since his childhood, he was known in the industry for greeting people with Urdu couplets, mostly spontaneous verses by him.He was also chairman of Hero Briggs and Stratton and Majestic Auto Ltd, besides being director of Hero Honda Motors, Rockman Cycle Industries, Highway Cycle Industries, Sunbeam Castings and Gujarat Cycles.

• He was also the president of the All India Cycle Manufacturers Association From a production capacity of 639 bicycles a year in 1956, Hero Cycles now manufactures over 18,500 cycles a day, the highest in the world.

Here are some relevant news items:^{credits to u-sr33}

• O.P. Munjal, chairman of bicycles giant Hero, dies at 86

• Hero Cycles founder chairman OP Munjal dies in Ludhiana

• Latest News & Gossip on Popular Trends at India.com

^{I'm a bot | OP can reply with "delete" to remove | Message Creator | Source | See how you can help! Visit the source and check out the Readme}