Ajay Harinath Singh Greatest Brand Leader 2018-2019

Kumar Mangalam Birla
A Legend in Every Sense
of the Word
The Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, one of the largest conglomerates in India, has built a highly
successful meritocratic organization, anchored by an extraordinary force of 120,000 employees belonging
to 42 different nationalities. He has brilliantly restructured the group to emerge as a global leader in
varied sectors
Having taken over as Chairman of
the Group in 1995, at the nascent
age of 28, after the untimely
demise of his father, Mr. Birla has driven
the Aditya Birla Group to an altogether
higher growth trajectory. During the 24
years of his leadership, he has accelerated
growth, built a meritocracy and enhanced
stakeholder value. In the process, he has
raised the Group’s turnover from US$ 2
billion in 1995, to US$ 48.3 billion today.
The most recent merger of Vodafone and
Idea engineered by Mr. Birla has created
the largest telecom operator in India and
the world’s second largest player.
Over the years Mr. Birla has acquired
manufacturing plants in Canada, China,
Indonesia and mines in Australia, set up
new plants in Egypt, Thailand and China.
Alongside, he has expanded capacities in all
of the Group’s manufacturing units. In India
as well, he has made major acquisitions
namely Jaypee Cement plants, Binani
Cement, Cement division of Larsen &
Toubro, Indal from Alcan, Madura Garments
from Coats Viyella, the Chlor Alkali division
of Kanoria Chemicals and Solaris Chemtech
Industries, to name a few.
A Brilliant Start
A fourth-generation member of the
Marwari Birla family from the state of
Rajasthan, Mr. Birla was born in Kolkata
and raised in Mumbai. He did his high
school from Sydenham College of
Commerce and Economics and obtained
a Bachelor’s degree from H.R. College
of Commerce and Economics of the
University of Mumbai, and an MBA degree
from London Business School. He is also
a Chartered Accountant from Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).
Even though he passed the exams with
flying colours, Mr. Birla considers his
years studying Chartered Accountancy as
one of the biggest challenges of his life.
Reminiscing about those “four painful
years,” he states, “I never wanted to
become a CA,” but “My father was keen
that I become one because he thought that
was the right thing for me to do. I didn’t
have the courage to tell him that I don’t
want to do it. But now I can’t thank him
more for having put me through it.”
When he took over the reins of the
conglomerate at a relatively young age,
the average employee age was about 54.
As he puts it, “It is more difficult to mend
things than to build things from scratch.”
However, owing to his efficient leadership
skills and clear cut focus, he overcame
every challenge with élan. “You have to deal
with the cards that life deals out to you.
And I have no regrets as professionally it
“Brimming with admiration, he declares,
‘My daughter goes to all kinds of places
in Madhya Pradesh and can walk in and
out of people’s homes in the villages. I
could never do that”
has been a great journey.”
Expressing elation upon the wide ambit of
career options available for the youngsters
today, Mr. Birla states, “My son (Aryaman
Vikram Birla) plays cricket professionally.
It is quite a swing from our generation to
the next. To that extent, millennials are
quite fortunate, because you have so many
more options than we had.” Elaborating on
her daughter Ananya Birla’s microfinance
organisation Svatantra Microfin, he states,
“So far they’ve reached out to more than
65,000 women in Maharashtra and Madhya
Pradesh.” Brimming with admiration, he
declares, “My daughter goes to all kinds
of places in MP and can walk in and out
of people’s homes in the villages. I could
never do that.”
Contributing in the Nation’s
Prosperity
Holding several key positions on various
regulatory and professional Boards, Mr.
Birla has been making every possible
contribution towards the growth and
prosperity of the nation. He is on the
National Council of the Confederation of
Indian Industry and the Apex Advisory
Council of the Associated Chambers of
Commerce and Industry of India. He
has served as a Director on the Central
Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of
India. He was Chairman of the Advisory
Committee constituted by the Ministry of
Company Affairs and also served on The
Prime Minister of India’s Advisory Council
on Trade and Industry.
As the Chairman of Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Committee
on Corporate Governance, he authored
the First Report on Corporate Governance
titled ‘‘Report of the Kumar Mangalam Birla
Committee on Corporate Governance.’’ Its
recommendations were path breaking and
became the basis of corporate governance
norms. Furthermore, as the Convener
of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on
Administrative and Legal Simplifications,
the extensive recommendations made by
him in his report, have been implemented in
totality. Mr. Birla also served as Chairman
of SEBI’s committee on Insider Trading,
which formulated Corporate Governance
principles for Indian corporates.
Mr. Birla is deeply engaged with
educational Institutions and is on the
Board of several educational institutions.
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