Aditya Birla Group, the third-largest Indian private sector conglomerate behind Tata G with revenue of US$74 billion, has been ranked fourth in the world and first in Asia Pacific in the 'Top Companies for Leaders' study 2011. The company has grown tremendously from 8 nationalities to 42 different nationalities; from an average age of 56 years to 36 years; from 0.4% women in the managerial cadre to 14%; from 60,000 to 1,20,000 colleagues and from 8 countries to 34 countries. The name Aditya Birla exemplifies integrity, quality, performance, perfection and above all character.
The work carried out by the group has made a massive mark in various spheres of our lives with products like Ultratech Cement that was employed in construction of Mumbai’s Bandra-Worli Sea-link and Birla Carbon Nanoparticles that make our tyres safer. Grasim Industries Limited, a flagship Aditya Birla Group Company is the world’s fourth largest producer of insulators. A large share of the copper requirement of Indian Railways is fulfilled by Birla Copper. Hindalco aluminium is used to make cover glass for smartphones. The group's firm Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd sells in-house brands such as Louis Phillipe, Allen Solly, Van Heusen, Peter England and People via their individual brand stores and through other multi brand outlets. It operates a multi brand fashion retail chain Pantaloons which it acquired from Future Group. As an Indian citizen, it is inevitable for us to not use ABG Products starting from clothes we wear, mode of transport we use; smartphones we use to connect with our long-distance relatives and the houses we live in.
Aditya Birla Group has also initiated CSR activities with each of its company volunteering to take up project to support women empowerment. Some of its major achievements include immunization of 50 million children against polio; setting up of reverse Osmosis Plants to provide drinking water to villagers near its unit and installation of 20,000 toilets throughout the country in endeavor to establish open-defecation free villages.
How I overcame challenges to achieve my ambitions in life?
Life is never a bed of roses and we always face difficult challenging situations which we need to overcome with strong will and positive attitude. It’s a journey of discovery – there are moments on mountaintops and moments in deep valleys of despair. My life was never a smooth river ride and I (as is my nature) has always given a head-on-collision to all the threats and hurdles.
One of the toughest and recent challenge that I faced in my life was my journey to get into a prominent B-school. When I got married last year, I and my husband, who is also an MBA, mutually decided that I shall go for higher studies so as to broaden my outlook towards life as well as to become self-dependent. But this was not a smooth ride wherein I had to manage 10 hours of office work, 2 hours of travel everyday from office to home, household responsibilities along with my MBA Studies. My sleep hours got reduced to 4-5 hours and there were times wherein I had to compromise my study schedule due to various rituals that are carried in first year of marriage. The constant motivation from my family and willpower directed me to not give up and work towards my goal. Finally, I got selected in a good MBA college and now I am chasing my dream to become a self-dependent strong personality. Mrs Rajshree Birla, the women behind the CSR activities carried out by Aditya Birla Group, motivates women in India to take a stand in society and work towards your goal along with supporting the needy and the poor so that you are recognized not only for the success you achieve in your lifetime but also the services you provide to the society as a whole.