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As an organisation forged in the furnace of India's freedom struggle and founded on the ideals of responsible business and inclusive growth, Aditya Birla Group prides itself on being an active participant in the country's enduring growth story.

From our founder Shri Ghanshyam Das Birla's iron-clad commitment to the nationalist cause, to the many future-facing industries that we have set up across the country, to the millions of community members that we work with locally to transform lives, our story is closely woven into the fabric of modern India. And it will always remain that way.

From the past to the present and the future, let's look at how Aditya Birla Group has played the role of a nation-builder, and how it continues to respond to every call of the nation.

Past

A Legacy of Nationalism

A Legacy of Nationalism

Shri G.D. Birla was an industrialist with a difference. A fierce patriot, he was firmly on the side of the leaders of the freedom struggle and was a close confidante of Mahatma Gandhi as well. He joined the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920 and opened up Birla House in Delhi, built in 1928, as a place where luminaries of the Indian independence movement often met to discuss ways to overthrow the oppressive British Raj.

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Setting up industries

At independence, India desperately needed a strong homegrown cotton and textile industry. Keen to make India atmanirbhar (self-reliant) on this front, Shri G.D. Birla started Grasim on August 25, 1947 – ten days after India's independence – in Nagda, a small town in Madhya Pradesh. Over ensuing decades, Grasim's growth juggernaut has made it a global powerhouse of fibres, textiles, chemicals, cements, insulators and paints.

In 1958, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru requested Shri G.D. Birla to set up an industry in the remote location of Renukoot in Uttar Pradesh. That was the birth of Hindalco. Four years later, Hindalco launched India's first integrated aluminium plant at Renukoot with a smelter capacity of 20,000 tonnes per annum. As India's demand for metals soared, the Group founded Birla Copper at Dahej, Gujarat in 1998 – at the time, the world's largest single-location copper smelter with integrated port facilities.

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Emphasis on education

India's rise to economic prosperity has been dependent on skills and education of its youngsters. Visionaries such as Shri G.D. Birla have helped the national cause by investing in centres of learning. Starting from a school in Pilani in 1929, he went on to establish the Birla Vishwakarma Mahavidyalaya College in Vallabh Vidyanagar in Gujarat in 1948. In 1964, the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, Rajasthan, opened its doors to students. He also financially supported the Banaras Hindu University and Aligarh Muslim University.

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The global vision

Shri G.D. Birla's grandson, Mr. Aditya Vikram Birla, was also imbued with the zeal to expand India's industrial sphere of influence. He was among the first to envision the benefits of globalisation for the nation. In 1969, Mr. Aditya Vikram Birla made history by setting up Indo Thai Synthetics in Thailand. This success fuelled the Group's rise as the first homegrown Indian multinational. By the 1990s, it had 19 companies in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Egypt, and other countries, and a portfolio that covered pulp & fibre, chemicals, metals and more.

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Setting Global Benchmarks

Mr. Aditya Vikram Birla's ambition to see India as a global manufacturing powerhouse led to many vibrant successes. Under his stewardship, the Group had achieved positions as the world's largest producer of viscose staple fibre, the largest refiner of palm oil, the third-largest producer of insulators, and the sixth-largest producer of carbon black.

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Fuelling a New India

Continuing his grandfather's legacy of making India self-reliant in key industries, Mr. Aditya Vikram Birla steered the Group's entry into sectors like carbon black, cement, and fashion and retail. All these businesses have played a significant role in fuelling India's economic growth over the decades.

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Earning Goodwill

The outstanding companies set up by Mr. Aditya Vikram Birla in India and abroad helped create enormous wealth and employment for the nation, and earned respect for Indian entrepreneurship across South-east Asia.

Present

Taking India to the World

Under Chairman Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Aditya Birla Group has grown from strength to strength, entering new sectors and establishing a footprint that spans the globe. The Group has spread its wings to set up Indian plants and units in critical sectors such as carbon black, telecom, finance, retail, cement, paints, renewable energy and trading. The Group is now an established leader in responsible manufacturing.

Grasim

Launched in 1947 as a manufacturer of viscose staple fibre, Grasim has grown rapidly over the last 75 years to become a diversified industrial powerhouse.

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd

With a retail footprint spanning over 9 million square feet, India's first billion-dollar pure-play fashion house caters to the many facets of the modern consumer.

UltraTech Cement

From dream homes and sprawling commercial complexes to massive infrastructure projects, UltraTech's cement and concrete power the aspirations of a resurgent nation.

Hindalco

The metals flagship of Aditya Birla Group, Hindalco is a global leader in aluminium and copper and also an icon of sustainable manufacturing.

Aditya Birla Capital Ltd

With a multitude of offerings across the financial services spectrum, Aditya Birla Capital has helped millions of customers to take steps towards their dream future.

Birla Carbon

Birla Carbon is the world's largest producer and supplier of carbon black and caters to the needs of the global tyre, rubber, plastic, ink, and paint industries.

Grasim

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd

UltraTech

Hindalco

Aditya Birla Capital Ltd

Birla Carbon

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A global network

Over the years, the Group has raised the nation's flag high by making a slew of cross-border acquisitions to consolidate its status as an India-headquartered conglomerate. These acquisitions include Novelis, US (2007); Domsjö Fabriker, Sweden, and Columbian Chemicals, US (both in 2011); and Aleris, US (2020).

The acquisitions have led to an India-based organisation ranking among the world leaders in aluminium rolling and recycling, VSF and carbon black – and employing over 140,000 people in 35+ countries. Sustainable economic growth requires inclusive and diverse workforces. To improve the representation of women in manufacturing, the Group is working to increase gender diversity by 10% year-on-year across each business and all levels – from shopfloors to C-suites.

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Trusted brands

Today many of India's most loved and trusted products and services hail from Aditya Birla Group. From Grasim (the world's second-largest VSF producer), to UltraTech (the world's third largest cement producer, excluding China); from Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail (India's No. 1 fashion and lifestyle player), to Vi (the telecom giant that connects over 270 million users); from aluminium foils, roofs and windows from Hindalco to Aditya Birla Capital's slew of financial services!

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Community above all

The Group's roots in India continue to inspire its social responsibility. Taking forward the Mahatma's concept of 'trusteeship', the Group is committed to using its vast resources for the betterment of marginalised populations everywhere. The Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development currently engages with 9 million people in 10,000 villages across India and the world.

The Group's healthcare initiatives have helped treat over 1 million plus patients and immunise over 100 million children. In addition, it supports the education of 46,500 children at 56 schools and has facilitated livelihood-linked skills-training for 95,000 people.

Future

Towards a Sustainable Tomorrow

As the world tries to push back against climate change, India is taking rapid steps towards decarbonisation and Aditya Birla Group is at the forefront of climate action. The Group has set up robust sustainability policies and has declared a 'decarbonisation aspiration' to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Carbon Emissions

Several Group companies have taken bold steps to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption.

Hindalco

Will reduce its emission intensity by

25% by the year 2025

(over 2012 levels)

UltraTech

Has committed to reduce its CO2 emissions by

25% by 2030

Birla Cellulose

Aims to reduce its GHG intensity by

30% by 2030

Novelis

Aims to reduce its CO2 footprint by

30% by 2026

Birla Carbon

Will bring down net carbon emissions to

ZERO by 2050

Waste Management

The Group is at the forefront of tackling the waste management problem, and aims to send 'Zero Waste to Landfill' by 2030. Here are some initiatives by different Group companies

Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd. (ABFRL) has already achieved Zero Waste to Landfill across nine facilities
UltraTech Cement is increasingly using municipal solid waste and industrial waste as alternative fuel for co-processing, thus reducing waste as well as fuel consumption
Birla Cellulose is developing alternative applications to reduce its solid waste by 25% by 2030 over 2015
Birla Carbon will repurpose 75% of its waste, through recycling, reuse and recovery, by 2030
Novelis will increase the use of recycled content across its entire product portfolio

Water Conservation

A water-scarce India would be disastrous for society, business, and the economy, which is why all businesses need to do their part to rein in water consumption. As a corporate citizen committed to the responsible use of all natural resources, Aditya Birla Group aims to halve its specific freshwater consumption per ton of product by 2025 (from 2015 levels).

Clean Energy

As India adopts the path of clean energy to achieve its sustainable development goals, the Group has taken giant strides in partnering the nation through this transition. Aditya Birla Renewables has an installed-plus-pipeline capacity of nearly 2 gigawatts of clean energy, and aims to ramp this up to 4.5 gigawatts in the next four years!

Biodiversity

Many of the Group's projects are located in the hinterland. To ensure that its activities cause minimal disturbance to nature and biodiversity, the Group is moving towards a 'No Net Loss' approach towards biodiversity management, using a clearly-defined mitigation hierarchy.