EXPANDING THE EMPIRE

Kumar Mangalam Birla has built a diversified conglomerate, venturing into new areas even as he has transformed legacy businesses into industry leaders

- BY KRISHNA GOPALAN

In the third week of January, Kumar Mangalam Birla summarised the current global situation as uncertain, unpredictable, and unorthodox. “Importantly, we will be embracing an uncertain world, not wrestling with it,” he said in his annual note.

As Chairman of the $65 billion Aditya Birla Group that has a presence across 41 countries, he must stay ahead of developments. The group has a global presence across sectors and holds the top slot globally in aluminium rolling and second in carbon black, cellulosic staple fibres and copper rods and third in cement (excluding China). Besides, it has become more diversified in the three decades that Birla has helmed it, even as he has strengthened existing businesses.

In recognition of these efforts, Birla has been chosen as the Business Icon of the Year in the BT-PwC India's Best CEOs list.

STRATEGIC HEFT

The Aditya Birla Group has a blend of traditional businesses with a focus on commodities and a strong business-to-consumer portfolio—an indication of the diverse opportunities India offers.

“The strengths of the traditional businesses can be leveraged in almost all the new businesses that the group has entered," says Rajiv Memani, Chairman and CEO of professional services firm EY India. He points to the group's distribution might in cement and how that works well for paints. The group has entered sectors driven by value creation, like in jewellery-with the launch of Indriya in 2024-which has a natural affinity to retail, where the customer profile is more towards the upper end.