KUMAR MANGALAM BIRLA IS THE CHAIRMAN OF THE ADITYA BIRLA GROUP, ONE OF THE LARGEST CONGLOMERATES IN INDIA. HE CHAIRS THE BOARDS OF ALL OF THE GROUP’S MAJOR COMPANIES IN INDIA AND GLOBALLY.
A Commerce Graduate from the University of Mumbai, Mr. Birla is a Chartered Accountant who earned an MBA from the London Business School.
He chairs the Boards of all of the Group’s major companies in India and globally. Among its clutch of companies globally feature Novelis, Columbian Chemicals, Aditya Birla Minerals, Aditya Birla Chemicals, Thai Carbon Black, Alexandria Carbon Black, Domsjö Fabriker and Terrace Bay Pulp Mill. In India, he chairs the Boards of Hindalco, Grasim, UltraTech, Idea and Aditya Birla Capital Limited.
The Group’s businesses are spread across a swath of industries. These include aluminium, copper, cement, textiles, carbon black, insulators, natural resources, solar power, agribusiness, telecommunications, financial services, retail and trading.
Business record
Mr. Birla took over as Chairman of the Group in 1995, at the age of 28, after the untimely demise of his father. As Chairman, Mr. Birla has taken the Aditya Birla Group to an altogether higher growth trajectory. In the 22 years that he has been at the helm of the Group, he has accelerated growth, built a meritocracy and enhanced stakeholder value.
Mr Birla has raised the Group’s turnover from US$ 2 billion in 1995, to US$ 48.3 billion in the recent time. He has restructured the businesses to emerge as a global/national leader in the sectors in which the Group operates. He has made 36 acquisitions in 20 years in India and globally, the highest by an Indian multinational in India.
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 also expanded capacities in all of the Group’s manufacturing units.
In India as well, he has made major acquisitions, among which feature 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.
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.
Under his stewardship, the Aditya Birla Group enjoys a position of leadership in all the major sectors in which it operates. He has also built a highly successful meritocratic organization, anchored by an extraordinary force of 120,000 employees belonging to 42 different nationalities. The Group won the coveted recognition of ‘The Best Employers to work for in India’ by AON – Hewitt in 2018.
In key responsible positions on various regulatory bodies
Mr. Birla holds several key positions on various regulatory and professional Boards. He was 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.
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.
On the Board of Educational Institutions
Mr. Birla is deeply engaged with Educational Institutions. He is the Chancellor, of the renowned Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), with campuses in Pilani, Goa, Hyderabad and Dubai.
Mr. Birla is the Chairman of IIM, Ahmedabad.
He is a Director of the G. D. Birla Medical Research & Education Foundation.
He serves on the London Business School’s Asia Pacific Advisory Board and is a Honorary Fellow of the London Business School.
Mr. Birla is the Chairman of Rhodes India Scholarship Committee.
Beyond business: Reaching out to the marginalized sections of society
A firm practitioner of the trusteeship concept, Mr. Birla has institutionalized the concept of caring and giving at the Aditya Birla Group. With his mandate, the Group is involved in meaningful welfare driven activities that distinctively impact the quality of life of the weaker sections of society, surrounding hundreds of villages that are among the poorest in India, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Egypt.
Under Mr. Birla’s stewardship, the Group’s CSR investment is around Rs.250 crore.
In India, the Group is engaged in 5,000 villages, reaching out to 7.5 million people annually and making a difference to their lives through meticulously conceived projects focusing on health care, education, sustainable livelihood, infrastructure and social causes. For instance, the Group runs 56 schools which provide quality education to 45,000 children. Of these, over 18,000 children are from underprivileged communities. Additionally, over a 100,000 youngsters benefit from bridge educational programmes and vocational training. Its 22 hospitals tend to more than a million villagers. In line with its commitment to sustainable development, has partnered with the Columbia University in establishing the Columbia Global Centre’s Earth Institute in Mumbai. To embed CSR as a way of life in organizations, has set up the FICCI – Aditya Birla CSR Centre for Excellence, in Delhi.
Born in a reputed Marwari family, his father Aditya Vikram Birla was a well-known entrepreneur and his mother Rajashri Birla was a philanthropist. He has spent most of his childhood in Kolkata and Mumbai, his wife Neerja Birla supported him in pursuing his MBA abroad, after their marriage. Ms Neerja has been supervising the Aditya Birla World Academy, a schoool in Mumbai. At the age of 28, he took over the Aditya Birla Group after his father's demise and proved himself as a successful businessman in the later years. He changed business strategies, professionalised the entire working system and thus accelerated the growth of the organisation over the years. He has also been involved in welfare activities to transform the lives of the weaker sections of the society across the world.
Kumar Mangalam Birla was also conferred the Priyadarshini Academy Award to honour his remarkable contributions towards student welfare. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath recently announced that Kumar Mangalam Birla has agreed to build 100 high-tech gaushalas in the state from the group’s CSR fund in the next 18 months. The CM made the announcement after a meeting with the industrialist in Mumbai, where he had gone to attract investments.
ACCOLADES CONFERRED ON MR. BIRLA
Mr. Birla has won recognition for his exemplary contribution to leadership processes and institution/systems building. A selective list:
Amity University, Haryana – ‘Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.) Honoris Causa’, 2019
CNBC-TV18 – IBLA ‘Outstanding Businessman of the Year 2017’
Frost & Sullivan’s ‘The GIL Visionary Leadership Award’ (Global Innovation Leader) 2017
International Advertising Association’s (IAA) ‘CEO of the Year Award 2016’
Inducted as an Honorary Member – Rotary Club of Mumbai (November 2014)
Hello Hall of Fame – Business Leader of the Year 2014 (November 2014)
US India Business Council (USIBC) ‘2014 Global Leadership Award’
‘Business Leader of the Year’, the Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence, 2012-13
‘Ranked the 4th Most Powerful CEO (2013)’ in the Economic Times’ Corporate India’s Definitive Power listing of 100 CEOs
Indore Management Association’s Award ‘National Indian Business Icon’, 2013
Forbes India Leadership Award – Flagship Award ‘Entrepreneur of the Year, 2012’
NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards 2012 – ‘Most Inspiring Leader’
The Degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) in recognition of his role in ‘Pioneering great engineering products involving multi-disciplinary engineering thought processes in the country’ by the Visvesvaraya Technological University, Karnataka, 2012
NASSCOM’s ‘Global Business Leader Award’ 2012.
CNBC-TV18 India Business Leader Award 2012 for ‘Taking India Abroad’
‘GQ Business Leader of the Year Award - 2011’ from Condé Nast India Pvt. Ltd., an affiliate of Condé Nast Global
‘CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2010 – Business’, ‘for being the most outstanding business person and making a success out of most businesses including the sunrise sector’, 2010
The All India Management Association’s (AIMA), Managing India Awards 2010 ‘Business Leader of the Year’, 2010
The AIMA – ‘RD Tata Corporate Leadership Award’, 2008
The Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris causa) in ‘’recognition of his invaluable contribution in the field of business administration’’ by the G. D. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, 2008
‘For the development of technology and also for the involvement in the field of Industries in bringing the country at par with other countries in the field of Industries’, the SRM University in Tamil Nadu conferred the Degree of Doctor of Literature, 2008
The Asia Pacific Global HR Excellence – ‘Exemplary Leader’ Award, 2007
‘The Global Indian Leader of the Year’ by NDTV Profit in their Business Leader Awards category, 2007
The Lakshmipat Singhania – IIM, Lucknow ‘National Leadership Award, Business Leader’, 2006
Represented India at the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Award in Monte Carlo, Monaco in June 2006, where he was inducted as a ‘Member of the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year Academy’
‘The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year’ Award, 2005
‘Young Super Performer in the CEO Category’ by Business Today, 2005
Chosen by the World Economic Forum (Davos) as one of the ‘Young Global Leaders’, 2004
‘The D. Litt (honoris Causa) Degree’ by The Banaras Hindu University, 2004
‘Honorary Fellowship’ by the All India Management Association, 2004
‘The Business Leader of the Year’, The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence 2002-2003
‘Business Man of the Year-2003’ by Business India
The Rajiv Gandhi Award for ‘Business Excellence and his contribution to the country’ by the Mumbai Pradesh Youth Congress, 2001
HE HAS RAISED THE GROUP’S TURNOVER FROM US$ 2 BILLION IN 1995, TO US$ 48.3 BILLION TODAY. MR. BIRLA HAS RESTRUCTURED THE BUSINESSES TO EMERGE AS A GLOBAL/NATIONAL LEADER IN THE SECTORS IN WHICH THE GROUP OPERATES. HE HAS MADE 36 ACQUISITIONS IN 20 YEARS IN INDIA AND GLOBALLY, THE HIGHEST BY AN INDIAN MULTINATIONAL IN INDIA.
MR. BIRLA IS DEEPLY ENGAGED WITH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. HE IS THE CHANCELLOR, OF THE RENOWNED BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE (BITS), WITH CAMPUSES IN PILANI, GOA, HYDERABAD AND DUBAI.