The Aditya Birla Group or ABG has been a part and parcel of my life since even before I knew what it was. From the groceries that we purchased from the nearby ‘More’ store to the apparels that we proudly wore bought from Pantaloons and Allen Solly Showroom, the ABG was actually touching me and my family’s life in every way. Today while writing this article I cherish the connections that I have with this gargantuan conglomerate since childhood. In this article, basically I just wanted to share, how the ABG played a pivotal role as a silent well-wisher in shaping my life.
In fact the ABG had its roots connected to my family even before my birth. My father did his graduation in electronics and telecommunications from Birla Institute of Technology Mesra Ranchi and till date he wears the brand and sigil of being a BITian with pride. Talking to him, I came to know how magnificently large this conglomerate was. This became evident to me after closely observing that same yellowish-red logo on a variety of goods present in my own kitchen. More products are indeed a brand trusted by a large number of Indian households.
Though, the real turning point in my story came when the ABG was assigned to me as my client. After completing my engineering, I joined a group called Tega Industries Ltd which is one of the major mining equipment spares supplier in the market. Hence The Essel Mining, Hindalco, Ultratech and Rungta Mines divisions of the ABG were among my first set of customers. So my first business interaction happened with the Essel Mining Group where I had a target of generating a business of 1.3 mn INR in 8 months. As a fresher I was greatly intimidated by the gravity of the task assigned to me. In such a situation I was expecting support from my own team and hoping that the customer would like my product. Though ironically, the Essel Group guided me through the trials and tribulations of the project as they would have guided their own employee. They guided me precisely what their specific needs were, and facilitating me frequently to visit their plant so that I may be able to see effective engineering in reality and visualize how their specific needs can be transformed into the products which I could ultimately be able to sell them and develop a worthwhile business.
I achieved my target budget before the stipulated deadline and learnt a great deal from the project. I got to present my products and ideas in front of the top management of the Essel group who were a very amiable group of board members and presenting in front of them was no less than a dream come true for a fresh college graduate.
Needless to say, ABG acted as my guide when I took my first toddling steps into the corporate life. It mentored me to achieve my first success in the corporate world which apparently reinforced my confidence that I was indeed a star employee in my own firm as well. Building on my first experience, I also handled other major customer groups such as TATA Steel and Jindal Steel etc. Later I interacted more with the ABG through business with Hindalco industries and then with Ultratech Cement(certainly me being an engineer, it is my choice). The ABG for me is not just a brand anymore, its an institution. On the whole I am super excited that I joined IIM Ranchi but a part of me also misses to deal with such gargantuan conglomerates. Hence hoping to deal with ABG again is indeed thee dream.
Shikhar Shukla
IIM Ranchi