LEGACY FIRMS IN DIVERSIFICATION DRIVE

LEGACY CONGLOMERATES GRAB EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES TO RIDE THE NEXT DECADE OF GROWTH.

- NEVIN JOHN

KUMAR MANGALAM BIRLA, after avoiding diversification for oneand-a-half decades, decided to enter paints in early 2021. Reason: His Aditya Birla Group needs growth channels for the next decade at a time when India Inc.’s rapid rise amid a wave of indigenisation is throwing up new opportunities. Paint is a natural extension of his white cement wall putty business. It can also ride the massive distribution of the group’s cement business, UltraTech, India’s largest. Birla also announced entry into B2B e-commerce for building materials, direct-to-customer (D2C) digital platform for branded apparel and branded jewellery retailing.

At Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), India’s biggest corporate entity, chairman Mukesh Ambani is building a fourth vertical (after petroleum, telecom and retail) with a renewable energy foray. He entered NBFC (non-banking financial service) and FMCG businesses recently as an extension of the B2C venture. It is listing the NBFC, Jio Financial Services, as a separate entity. RIL is also joining hands with Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and Digital Realty Trust for setting up data centres across India.

Tata Group has zeroed in on a wide range of businesses, including aircraft manufacturing, defence, FMCG, precision engineering, semiconductor, super app, payments, battery manufacturing, 5G technology/infrastructure and hyperloop transportation.