Shanti Lal Khanna

Shanti Lal Khanna (d. c. 1980s) was an Indian businessman and doctor. Khanna was born in the Punjab Province, British India. He initially established a dental practice before founding a business in Lahore with interests in the travel and agriculture industries. In 1939, Khanna founded a manufacturing company that became the sole authorized manufacturer of weights and measures in the Punjab Province.

After the Partition of India in 1947, Khanna resettled in Delhi. Although he lost his earlier wealth during the Partition, he later founded Delhi Small Scale Industries in the 1950s. The company manufactured various products and also had an import-export business. He also held positions on the Bureau of Indian Standards' product specification committees, leadership posts in textile associations, and was a high-ranking Freemason. Khanna died at an unknown date in the 1980s. He was the first notable member of the Khanna family.

Background and early career
Shanti Lal Khanna was born in the Punjab Province, British India, in a Punjabi Hindu family. Khanna had one younger brother. Initially in his career, Khanna worked as a dentist and operated his own dental practice in Gujranwala, Punjab Province, from at least 1925 to 1936. By 1936, Khanna had left his successful dental practice and founded the Holiday Careers & General Assurance Co., a company based in Lahore. As the managing director, he focused on promoting travel and holidays, and supporting career starts that concentrated on enhancing rural and agricultural industries through modern cooperative farming initiatives.

In 1939, using the funds he had earned, Khanna founded a manufacturing company in Lahore, that specialized in manufacturing weights and measures. Khanna's company became the only weights and measures manufacturing company in the Punjab Province to be authorized by the provincial government. However, in the wake of the Partition of India in 1947, Khanna, along with his family, fled from Lahore and resettled in Delhi, India. Khanna lost his wealth as a result of the Partition, forcing him to start anew in Delhi.

Career in Delhi
In Delhi, Khanna restarted his business career. In the 1950s, he founded Delhi Small Scale Industries, a company involved in manufacturing and import-export. The company's factory was located in an industrial estate in Okhla. The company produced a diverse range of products, including buttons, nylon, rayon, silk cords, fabricated steel, webbing equipment, blankets, pile fabrics and soap. The company also exported the products it manufactured. In the 1960s, Delhi Small Scale Industries received an import licence for various products, including roller bearings, bronze wires and reduction gear motors. In 1962, the company received regulatory approval to become distributors of carbon steel and spring steel. In 1963, Delhi Small Scale Industries received approval to distribute wool yarns and cotton yarns. From 1963 onwards, the company was also a supplier to the Ministry of Defence. In 1969, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted an inquiry into the products that Delhi Small Scale Industries had supplied to the Ministry of Defence; however, Khanna's company was cleared of any wrongdoing.

During his career, Khanna was part of various product specification committees under the Bureau of Indian Standards, and represented both his company Delhi Small Scale Industries, and the Ministry of Defence on these committees. The product specification committees that he was part of included the committees for buttons, fasteners, platinum electrodes and silver anodes.

In the 1960s, Khanna served as President of the Textile Manufactures Association and in the 1970s, he served as the General Secretary of the Amritsar Textile Mills Association. In 1969, he was part of a travel business delegation that included other prominent Indian businesspeople. In 1975, Khanna gave a reminiscential talk about Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, on the All India Radio. He was also a member of the Freemasons and, at some point after India's independence in 1947, served as the Worshipful Master (Eastern Chair) of a Masonic lodge in India.

Personal life
Khanna was married to Vidya Khanna. Vidya's father, Bhagat Ram Sahni, founded the Arya Samaj movement in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, and was awarded the Rai Sahib title of honor during the British Raj. Khanna and Vidya had three sons: Ravi, Vipin and Vinod. Ravi was a lieutenant colonel in the Indian Army's Brigade of the Guards regiment. Ravi was also among the first graduates of the Joint Services Wing, which later became the National Defence Academy but was initially part of the Indian Military Academy. Vipin was initially an army officer, and later became a businessman and financier. Vinod also became a businessman. Khanna died at an unspecified date in the 1980s. His descendants, who are members of the Khanna family, also achieved success and notability in various fields.