IN 30 YEARS
Thirty years ago, in 1995, Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla took over as Chairman of Aditya Birla Group. Under his leadership, the Group has transformed in myriad ways – with exponential 33x growth, a global footprint with world-leading companies, nimble-footed forays into emerging sectors and strategic acquisitions that add size, scale and spread to the Group. Every advancement has been underpinned by a strong commitment to sustainability and driven by a sense of societal purpose.
Here's a quick overview of Aditya Birla Group’s transformational journey in the last 30 years.
POWERED BY
A VISION
Over the years, we have built enduring businesses to create better outcomes. Businesses that are anchored in purpose and driven by impact. And this founding philosophy is our engine even today: Build critical capacity in India, compete globally with scale and efficiency, and in the process create livelihoods and prosperity at scale
Since 1995 – an era when India’s economic reforms were reshaping the business landscape – Aditya Birla Group has been under the helmsmanship of Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla. In the last three decades, revenues soared 33 times. Many of our businesses have not just reached global scale but are world leading in standing. The Group has birthed over 30 brands and touches the lives of 300 million people, arising from businesses that are a mix of infrastructural (such as cement) or consumer-facing (such as paint). Little wonder that the market capitalisation of the Group’s listed companies crossed USD 115 billion in 2025.
Globe-straddling scale
Metals flagship Hindalco-Novelis is the world’s largest in aluminium rolling and stands second* in Copper Rods production. Birla Cellulose and Birla Carbon rank world No.2 in cellulosic fibres and carbon black, respectively. UltraTech Cement leads the world in cement sales volume.* The Chemicals business is a global leader in key chemicals, such as Chlor Alkali, Epoxy, Phosphates and Sulphites.
As much as 40% of Group revenues and 30% of EBITDA flows from international businesses, powered by a manufacturing footprint that straddles the globe and includes 600+** units across 41 countries.
* excl. China
** Includes UltraTech Cement’s ready-mix
concrete plants
Talent at the core
People are the powerdrive of the conglomerate. The Group is run by a 60,000-strong management cadre with women comprising 16% of the workforce. This cohort will boost the conglomerate’s growth trajectory in the next decade by operationalising a USD 25-billion capex programme that will concretise the next phase of expansion. In addition, the Group’s CSR initiatives touch 11 million people across its operations.
A
YEAR
JOURNEY
Growth
Years
billion
Reach
Brands
touches the lives of over 300 million people
World-leading
-
In Aluminium Rolling
-
In Cement sales*
-
In Cellulosic Staple Fibre
-
In Copper Rods*
-
In Carbon Black
-
Global leader in key chemicals, such as Chlor Alkali, Epoxy, Phosphates and Sulphites
*excl. China
Manufacturing excellence
UNITS*
across 41 countries and 6 continents
*Includes UltraTech Cement’s ready-mix concrete plants
People
workforce
strong management cadre
Women comprise
of total workforce
Global
of Group revenues,
of EBITDA
come from international businesses
Future-ready
billion USD
capex programme planned over next three years
The Courage to Grow
Entry into New Business Sectors
Our Group has truly emerged as an engine for big bets. This has been far beyond my own expectations… We have moved with conviction. Executing swiftly, scaling rapidly, and thinking generationally.
One of the hallmarks of Mr. Birla’s leadership is the way the Group has transformed itself from a primarily commodities-led business house to a broad-spectrum conglomerate spanning materials, services and consumer-facing sectors of the economy. The Group’s forays into new sectors have been driven both by agile seizing of opportunities in sunshine sectors and prescient reading of changing consumer needs, behaviours and demographics.
Decade 1: Expanding the mix
When Mr. Birla took over as Chairman in 1995, India was in the flush of economic liberalisation, leading to an expansion of the Indian middle class in the mid-1990s. Mr. Birla had already partnered with his father, Mr. Aditya Vikram Birla, in initiating the Group’s foray into the services sector – such as the financial services and telecoms businesses that he would subsequently nurture to scale.
Under his Chairmanship, the Group made its first foray into a consumer-facing business: The acquisition of Madura Garments in 1999 led to the Group entering the Fashion & Retail sector. Core sectors were not ignored. Leveraging the Group’s expertise in non-ferrous metals led to the entry into Copper production with the commissioning of a copper smelter at Dahej in 1998. Both fashion retail and copper continue to be key sectoral plays for the Group today.
Decade 2: Entering sunshine sectors
These two economic impulses of emerging sectors and changing consumption patterns still drive the Group’s forays into new sectors. With the Indian economy opening its borders to competition, the strategic drive to take global leadership positions in every business accelerated the pace of inorganic growth throughout the 2000s, primarily through acquisitions in existing sectors, such as Cement and Aluminium. But the door to new ventures remained open as with the entry into Renewable Energy with Aditya Birla Renewables in 2011. This business has scaled up to a 4.3 GW clean energy footprint across India today.
Decade 3: Driving rapid-fire diversification
The Group’s bets on new businesses have accelerated over the last decade, with four new businesses launched and scaled up since 2022 alone. Aditya Birla Group has tapped into rising aspirational consumption across India by foraying into branded Jewellery with Indriya, and Fine Dining Experiences with Aditya Birla New Age Hospitality, both launched in 2023.
Leveraging synergies with the flagship cement business and syncing into the rise of the digital economy is Birla Pivot, the group’s first Digital Platform that boosts B2B ecommerce. This B2B platform for buying building materials was founded in 2022. Complementing it is Birla Opus, the Decorative Paints brand launched in 2024 with a capacity equivalent to 24% of the industry’s existing capacity. The last few years has also seen a rapid scale-up of the realty business, launched in 2016 with Aditya Birla Real Estates, and ranked among the fastest-growing Real Estate companies in the country today. And coming up soon is the foray into Wires and Cables, announced by UltraTech in 2025.
Meanwhile, since 2021, Aditya Birla Ventures has been taking bets on the startup economy by investing Venture Capital in a diverse portfolio of new-age businesses such as space tech, D2C brands, fintech and travel accessories.
Harnessing Opportunities Through Acquisitions
Changes in technology, and evolving consumer needs, are creating ever shorter business cycles. For a group like ours, a unique challenge is to harness the trust and stability that comes from longevity, while ensuring that we can continuously reinvent ourselves.”
Grasim grows its footprint
- 2004: UltraTech Cement from L&T
- 2006: VSF plant in China through joint-venture Birla Jingwei Fibres
- 2011: Domsjo Fabriker, Sweden
- 2019: Soktas India, a premium fabric company
Hindalco spreads wide
- 2000: Indian Aluminium Company (Indal)
- 2007: Novelis, USA (with this, Hindalco becomes top five metals major globally)
- 2019: Aleris, USA (adds high-end aluminium expertise)
- 2025: AluChem USA (adds to specialty alumina expertise)
UltraTech boosts capacity
- 2017: Jaiprakash Associates’ cement plants and Jaypee Cement Corporation
- 2019: Merger of Century Textiles’ cement business with Ultratech
- 2024: Acquisition of India Cement assets
- 2025: Acquisition of Kesoram Industries’ cements business; launch of Wonder WallCare
Birla Carbon goes global
- 2011: Columbian Chemicals, USA (adds global manufacturing capacity)
- 2023: Nanocyl SA, for carbon nanotube solutions
ABFRL adds styles
- 2019: 100% stake in Jaypore and majority stake in Shantnu & Nikhil
- 2021: Strategic partnership with Tarun Tahiliani; 51% stake in Sabyasachi Couture
- 2022: Majority stake in House of Masaba; partnership with Galeries Lafayette
- 2023: Majority stake in TCNS Clothing, The Indian Garage Co
- 2025: Demerger into two entities, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd and Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands Ltd; Galeries Lafayette opens first India store in Mumbai
Aditya Birla Chemicals boosts portfolio
- 2025: Cargill’s specialty chemicals plant in USA adds Advanced Materials expertise
Focus on Unlocking Enterprise Value
The axis of our portfolio is slowly but surely being tilted, expanding in both scale and strategic breadth. The combination of mature operating companies and agile, younger businesses is shaping a platform designed for long-term value creation — a platform that cuts across customer segments and is already generating tangible social impact.”
- UltraTech to touch ~200 million TPA capacity, becomes third-most valuable cement company in the world with a market cap of $40 billion
- Grasim’s market cap almost doubles to $20 billion in last three years
- Aditya Birla Capital and subsidiaries manage aggregate AUM of over Rs. 5.5 trillion
- Fashion and retail footprint of 12 million sq ft with 4,400+ stores across 20+ brands in 900+ cities, demerged into 2 companies to unlock capital opportunities
- Birla Real Estate launched Rs. 70,000 crore worth of projects and handed over 1,350 apartments to date
- Birla Pivot hits annualised run rate of over Rs 5,000 crore in FY25
- Birla Opus becomes second-largest decorative paints company in India by capacity within two years of launch
- Indriya off to a blistering start, aims to set a new benchmark with 45 stores across India, spanning nearly 300,000 sq ft of retail space by end of 2025
- ABNAH portfolio expanded to 9 brands in 3 cities within two years of launch
Sustainability = Both Eyes on the Future
Sustainability is not just good citizenship but also, good business.
Strong progress on sustainability targets
- Net zero carbon emissions by 2050
- Zero waste to landfill by 2030
- Total water positivity by 2050
- No net loss of biodiversity by 2050
Wealth from waste
- 82 sites achieved Zero Waste to Landfill status with 16.45 million tonnes of waste reused, recycled or repurposed across the Group
Water positivity
- 7 ABG entities achieved over 20% reduction in freshwater withdrawal intensity at unit level, notably from Birla Copper (58%), Fibre Business (54%), Domestic Textiles (49%), and Overseas Spinning (42%)
Renewable energy
- Aditya Birla Renewables has built a renewable energy portfolio of ~4.3 GW across 10 states
Circular economy
- Circular products from the Group range from Liva cellular staple fibre to ContinuaTM sustainable carbonaceous material to Hindalco’s Eco Edge C
- Novelis is the world’s largest recycler of aluminium with 63% recycled content across all products; recycles 84 billion+ beverage cans every year
- Birla Copper is building India’s first e-waste and copper recycling plant in Gujarat
Sustainability recognition
- Hindalco World’s Most Sustainable Aluminium Company for five years in a row in S&P Global CSA; achieves ZLD status in 15 of its 19 sites; recycled 85% of waste in FY25
- UltraTech among top 10 most sustainable companies in the Construction Material sector of S&P Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for 4 years in a row; achieved 4.9 times water positivity and 5.1x plastic negative in FY25
- Birla Cellulose achieves the highest ranking in Canopy’s Hot Button Report for 6 years in a row
- ABFRL 4th-highest retail company globally in S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment in 2024 (all ABFRL and ABLBL facilities have sustained zero waste to landfill and water positive status)
- Birla Estates' entire portfolio is now 100% green certified with IGBC or LEED Gold/Platinum standards
- Birla Carbon: ISCC Plus Certification for 16 plants worldwide
Recognition and Accolades
Recognised with Padma Bhushan in 2023
Honoured with Global Leadership Award by US India Strategic Partnership Forum in 2025
Honorary Doctor of Science (Economics) degree awarded by University of London in November 2025
Honoured with the Visionary Business Leader Award 2025 at Chiratae Ventures Patrick J. McGovern Awards 2025
'Business Icon of the Year' at Business Today MindRush 2025
Three-time winner of ET Business Leader of the Year award
Honoured with Lata Deenanath Mangeshkar Award
ICAI Hall of Fame award in 2024
I believe that we stand at the brink of extraordinary possibility to build a future like never before. A future that continues to be generative and dynamic. A future that is limited only by our imagination today. This is our moment to imagine. To ignite. And to inspire.