[1][2] His early years were spent in the present day Pakistan and did his graduate studies at Banares Hindu University in metallurgy to get a BSc degree in 1936.
[1][2] After retirement from UNIDO, Bal Raj Nijhawan shifted his residence to Kokomo, Indiana and later, in 2013, he moved again to Florida.
[3][6] He is credited with the development of nickel-free austenitic stainless steels from Cr, Mn, and N systems[1][2] and indigenous raw materials.
[6] Bal Raj Nijhawan, an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy since 1957, was awarded the civilian honour of Padma Shri in 1958.
[3][7] Six years later, in 1964, he received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, the highest Indian award in the science category, for his services to the engineering sector.
[3][4][7] He was accorded the honorary membership and gold medal of the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan in 1980, the same year as he received an award from the Government of Yugoslavia.