Aditya Birla: The Powerhouse Behind India’s Desert Cotton Boom

Quantifying the business of the Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla Group is practically impossible. The business history of the Birla family dates back to the 19th century and is based in Pilani (Rajasthan), a city located in the middle of the Thar Desert in northern India. More than two centuries ago, cotton merchant Ghanshyam Das Birla probably did not know that his business would expand into sectors as diverse as textiles, fashion, fiber, aluminum, cement, chemicals, telecommunications and even entertainment.

The big expansion, however, came not with Ghanshyam Das Birla, but with his grandson, a century later. This was Aditya Vikdram Birla, who found a group under construction and set out to take it to the top. He died young, but he made it a reality that a company could go global even if it was based in an Indian desert. By the time of his death in 1995, he had achieved a total turnover of 8 billion rupees, or more than $800 million. The company’s workforce already numbered 75,000 employees, most of them in India, and the shareholder community exceeded 600,000.

The third protagonist in the story is Kumar Mangalam Birla who, at the age of 28 and after the sudden death of Aditya Vikdram (after whom the conglomerate took its present name), had to take the helm of the group, which he still chairs today. An MBA from the London Business School, his tenure has been characterized by growth and expansion in all the industries in which the group is present, as well as acquisitions. Adytia Birla Group has made more than 40 acquisitions in some twenty different sectors, increasing turnover to $65 billion. The workforce currently numbers 187,000 people.

Adytia Birla Group has acquired forty companies in twenty different sectors, with a turnover of $65 billion

Seven of the companies of the Indian multinational conglomerate are listed on the stock exchange. Its headquarters are still based in Bombay (India) and the owner family is heavily involved in social projects for the people of India. Currently, all of its companies have a market capitalization of more than $100 billion. This means that, in five years, the Indian group has doubled its stock market value. The Indian giant is currently present on six continents and in a total of 41 countries, and employs people of 100 different nationalities.

The cement industry is the darling of the group. With Ultra Tech, the giant has an annual turnover of more than $8.4 billion. Aditya Group has been crowned India’s largest cement and concrete producer, and is already the third largest worldwide. Operating from India, the company’s production capacity exceeds 100 million tons of cement per year, and its trading operations span the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sri Lanka and India itself. It also has an innovation center where it develops products for modern construction.

Perhaps because of the company’s cotton origins, or perhaps because of Indian tradition. The point is that the group proclaims its yarn company as a favorite. It is Grasim Industries Limited, which began as a textile manufacturer in 1947 and is now a world leader in viscose, chemicals, linen yarns and Indian fabrics. Its market capitalization is one of the highest in the group at $21.28 billion. Grasim Industries Limited is the holding company of Jaya Shree Textiles, India’s leading linen brand manufacturer, and the Linen Club brand, which produces 1,000 new designs every month.

One of the sectors in which Aditya Birla Group is currently strongest is real estate, but it still wants to become stronger. The Indian conglomerate has managed to carve out a niche in the sector and, with a track record of less than ten years in residential and commercial real estate, the market capitalization of the division with which it operates is more than $3.21 billion. Aditya Birla is moving into the luxury sector to “transform the perception of the Indian real estate sector”. The medium to long-term goal is to position itself among the five largest real estate companies in India.

Aditya Birla has a presence in the Indian real estate sector. Its objective is to position itself among the five largest real estate companies in the country

There are few business lines that Aditya Birla does not currently touch. The group excels in commodity trading, both in agriculture, inputs, energy and metals. It has alliances with more than seventy countries from which it sources. With this business, it has an annual turnover of $6 billion and a presence in 23 countries. It is one of the largest traders in India, and has a portfolio of brands marketed in almost 4,500 stores. It is also present in more than 38,000 multi-brand points of sale and has more than 8,900 stores of its own.

In terms of jewelry, Aditya Birla markets its own brand to highlight its roots. Indriya currently has only nineteen stores, but the idea is to reach one hundred stores by 2026. It also has a hotel division, Aditya Birla New Age Hospitality, which operates the 6,000-square-meter Jolie’s luxury club. In addition, it owns four Indian dining brands. Finally, its alliance with Vodafone has also positioned the Indian group as one of the leading telecommunications providers in the country.

Even the Indian giant is concerned about the policies of Donald Trump’s U.S. government. This is what the group’s chairman confesses in a recent interview. He assures that the tycoon’s way of proceeding will inevitably change geopolitics globally, and one must be prepared to adapt to the changes. It’s normal to suffer: The United States is the largest market for the Indian group, with the exception of India. Its investments there exceed $15 billion. It stands out in the US for its presence in the metal and chemicals sector through its Novelis and Aditya Birla Chemicals businesses.