The feeling of understanding the magnitude and reach of a conglomerate whose name we’ve all grown up listening every single day is truly exciting. Throughout our lifetimes, the name “Birla” has been synonymous with grandeur, wealth and expansive growth. That expansive growth of the Aditya Birla Group (ABG) has touched each and every Indian’s life and will undoubtedly, play an important role in the lives of generations to come.
ABG, founded in 1857 and India’s third largest conglomerate today has been undergoing a continuous process of evolution and development. Due to this group has been capable of entering, capturing and in turn transforming various industries as well as business models. One such example is the acquisition of UltraTech Cement from L&T in 2004. For a developing country like India where urbanization is in force and development of strong infrastructure is essential, UltraTech cement stands out as the leading cement manufacturer. Ultratech is also ranked as one of the top cement producers of the world by Global Cement Magazine consistently.
ABG has constantly worked towards identifying the changing customer needs and modifying their products to meet those needs. ABG has brought in the revolution in formal fashion wear through its multiple brands such as Allen Solly, Louis Philippe, Peter England and Van Heusen. These brands have now become the epitome of business wear and also have started venturing to semi-formal trends in India, especially for MBA students like us. The multi-brand store, Pantaloons and the retail store chain More have opened a plethora of consumer goods to the demographics of India.
With the notion of “an idea can change your life”, ABG launched Idea! Telecom. Idea was determined to provide the best call and data service to every Indian. But in the changing market scenario after the introduction of Jio, Idea was also quick to act on the demanding markets and merged with Vodafone. This merger turned out to become the largest telecom company in terms of subscribers and revenue, surpassing Airtel.
ABG has also focused on not just taking “India to the world” but also on “bringing the World to India”. Aditya Birla Capital charted a joint venture with Sun Life (India) AMC Investments to form Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund (ABSLMF) which is one of the top 5 mutual fund houses in India. Today, the economy is faced with rising NPAs, ABG entered the now developing space of Asset Reconstruction by forming a joint venture with Varde Partners, USA.
With the aim of integrating the Indian economy with the global economy, ABG strives to keep evolving and growing. It is indeed Big in my life and keeps growing Bigger every day!