Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla

Chairman, The Aditya Birla Group

Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla is the Chairman of the US$40 billion multinational Aditya Birla Group, which operates in 36 countries across six continents. Over 53 per cent of its revenues flow from its operations outside India.
Mr. Birla chairs the boards of all of the Group's major companies in India and globally. Among its clutch of companies globally are Novelis, Columbian Chemicals, Aditya Birla Minerals, Aditya Birla Chemicals, Thai Carbon Black and Alexandria Carbon Black among others. In India, he chairs the Boards of Hindalco, Grasim, Aditya Birla Nuvo, UltraTech, Idea, Aditya Birla Financial Services and Aditya Birla Retail.
The Group's businesses are spread across a swath of industries. These include aluminium, copper, cement, textiles (pulp, fibre, yarn, fabric and branded apparel), carbon black, insulators, natural resources, power, agribusiness, telecommunications, financial services, IT/ITeS, 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 17 years that he has been at the helm of the Group, 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$ 40 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 22 acquisitions in 17 years in India and globally, the highest by an Indian multinational in India.

The acquisition of Novelis, a global metals major, in 2007, the second largest acquisition ever by an Indian company, led to a new found respect for Indian companies and stoked a higher level of interest in the country as well. Recently, the acquisition of Columbian Chemicals, a US based company and the world's 3rd largest carbon black manufacturer positioned the Group as the No. 1 player in this sector, given its own sizeable carbon black operations today. Likewise, the acquisition of Domsjö Fabriker, a leading Swedish speciality pulp manufacturer enables the Group's pulp and fibre business to further consolidate its global position.

Besides these, over the years Mr. Birla has acquired manufacturing plants in Canada, China, Indonesia, plantations in Laos, 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, the most notable being the cement division of Larsen & Toubro; Indal from Alcan; Madura Garments from Coats Viyella and the Chlor-Alkali division of Kanoria Chemicals.

Under his stewardship, the Aditya Birla Group enjoys a position of leadership in all the major sectors in which it operates. Over the years, Mr. Birla has built a highly successful meritocratic organisation, anchored by an extraordinary force of 133,000 employees belonging to 42 different nationalities.

In key responsible positions on various regulatory bodies

Mr. Birla holds several key positions on various regulatory and professional boards. He is a Director on the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India. Earlier, 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.
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.

Accolades conferred on Mr. Birla

Mr. Birla has won recognition for his exemplary contribution to leadership processes and institution/systems building. A selective list:

Beyond business: Reaching out to the marginalised sections of the society

A firm practitioner of the trusteeship concept, Mr. Birla has institutionalised 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, Philippines and Egypt.

In India, the Group is engaged in 3,000 villages, reaching out to seven million people annually and making a difference to their lives through meticulously conceived projects focusing on healthcare, education, sustainable livelihood, infrastructure and social causes. For instance, the Group runs 42 schools, which provide quality education to 45,000 children. Of these, over 18,000 children receive free education. Additionally, over a 100,000 youngsters benefit from bridge educational programmes and vocational training.

Educational background

A commerce graduate from the Mumbai University, Mr. Birla is a chartered accountant. He earned an MBA from the London Business School.

Personal details

Born on June 14, 1967, in Kolkata, Mr. Birla was raised in Mumbai. Mr. Birla and his wife, Mrs. Neerja Birla have three children, Ananyashree, Aryaman Vikram and Advaitesha.