Leadership

Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla Chairman, Non-Executive Director

Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla is the Chairman of the Indian multinational Aditya Birla Group, which operates in 36 countries across six continents. He is a Chartered Accountant and holds an MBA degree from the London Business School.

Mr. Birla chairs the Boards of all major Group companies in India and globally including Novelis Inc., Birla Carbon, Aditya Birla Chemicals, Domsjö Fabriker, Terrace Bay Pulp Mill, Hindalco Industries Ltd., Grasim Industries Ltd., UltraTech Cement Ltd., Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. and Aditya Birla Capital Ltd. In the 25 years, at the helm of the Group, he has accelerated growth, built meritocracy and enhanced stakeholder value. In the process he has raised the Group’s turnover by well over 20X to around $60 billion. The market cap of the Group’s listed entities at the close of FY21 was over $60 billion.

He has been the architect of over 40 successful acquisitions by the Group in India and abroad, the highest by any Indian multinational. Key acquisitions include Aleris Corporation, Novelis, the second largest acquisition ever by an Indian company, Columbian Chemicals, Domsjö Fabriker, CTP GmbH – Chemicals & Technologies, Jaypee Cement, Binani Cement, Larsen & Toubro's cement division, Indal from Alcan, Madura Garments, the Chlor Alkali division of Kanoria Chemicals and Solaris Chemtech Industries. Mr. Birla has restructured the businesses to emerge as a global leader in the sectors in which the Group operates. Under his stewardship, the Aditya Birla Group enjoys a position of leadership in all the major sectors in which it operates— from cement to chemicals, metals to textiles and fashion to financial services. Anchored by an extraordinary force of 140,000 employees belonging to 100 different nationalities, over the years Mr. Birla has built a highly successful meritocratic organisation.

Under his leadership, in 2020, the Aditya Birla Group was recognised as among the Forbes World’s Best Employers 2020. In 2018, it was also recognised as ‘The Best Employers to work for in India’ by AON – Hewitt. The Group topped Nielsen's Corporate Image Monitor 2014-15 and emerged as the Number 1 corporate, the 'Best in Class', three times in a row.

Outside the Group, Mr. Birla has held 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 that crafted foundational principles of 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 the Chairman of SEBI’s committee on Insider Trading which formulated corporate governance principles for Indian corporates. Mr. Birla is also the first Industrialist to be conferred Honorary membership by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI). 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.

Mr. Birla is deeply engaged with educational institutions. He is the Chancellor of the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) with campuses in Pilani, Goa, Hyderabad and Dubai. Mr. Birla is Chairman, Governing Council of BITSoM, a new age business school based in Mumbai. He is also the Chairman of The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

On the global arena, Mr. Birla serves on the London Business School’s Asia Pacific Advisory Board and is an Honorary Fellow of the London Business School. In 2019, Mr. Birla constituted a £15 million scholarship programme at the London Business School in memory of his grandfather, Mr. B.K. Birla, marking the largest ever endowed scholarship gift to a European Business School.

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 weaker sections of society around the world.

Accolades conferred on Mr. Birla

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

• Global Entrepreneur Award by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), 2021
• ABLF Global Asian Award, 2019
• 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’
• 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
• 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 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
• ‘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
• ‘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 National HRD Network, ‘The Outstanding Business Man of the Year’, 2001
• The Institute of Directors’ ‘Golden Peacock National Award for Business Leadership’, 2001
• Hindustan Times, ‘The Businessman of the Year’, 2001
• ‘Among the top 10 of India’s most admired and respected CEOs and the top CEO of the coming millennium’, Business World, 1998

Smt. Rajashree Birla Non-Executive Director

Smt. Rajashree Birla is an exemplar in the area of community initiatives and rural development. Smt. Birla spearheads the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development, the Group’s apex body responsible for development projects.

She oversees the Group’s social and welfare driven work across the Group. The footprint of the Centre’s work straddles over 7,000 villages, reaching out to 9 million people. The Aditya Birla Group runs 20 hospitals and 5,000 medical camps treating over a million patients. Its 56 schools pan India impart quality education to over 46,500 children. Both its hospitals as well as schools are not-for-profit institutions.

Smt. Birla is the Chairperson of the FICCI – Aditya Birla CSR Centre for Excellence, Habitat for Humanity (India) and is on the Board of the Asia Pacific Committee as well as Habitat’s Global Committee.

She is the Chairperson of FICCI’s first ever Expert Committee on CSR. She serves on the Board of Director’s CSR Committee of State Bank of India. She is on the Board of BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune and Population First, Mumbai. She serves on the Akhil Bharatvarshiya Maheshwari Education Trust, Indore. As a patron of arts and culture, she heads the "Sangit Kala Kendra", a Centre for performing arts, as its President.

In recognition of the exemplary work done by Smt. Rajashree Birla, leading national and international organizations have showered accolades upon her. Among these the most outstanding one has been that of the Government of India which bestowed the “Padma Bhushan” Award in 2011 on Smt. Rajashree Birla in the area of “Social Work”.

In recognition of Smt. Birla’s unrelenting endeavours towards polio eradication,
Mrs. Pratibha Patil, the former President of India, honoured Smt. Birla with the much coveted “Polio Eradication Champion” Award at the Rashtrapati Bhavan (New Delhi).

Some of the other distinctive awards conferred upon Smt. Birla include –

2019: Guest of Honour Award for path breaking work in CSR, AsiaOne
2019: Purpose-Led Group Brand 2019 Award, Business World – BW Pure
2019: Lifetime Contribution Award, Navbharat Times
2019: Gandhi Champion Award, Gandhi Going Global (New York)
2018: Distinguished Fellowship Award, Institute of Directors (IOD)
2018: Lifetime Achievement Award, CSR Times
2018: Lifetime Achievement Award, FICCI FLO GR8 Beti Awards
2017: The Torch Bearer of Humanitarian Service, Rotary International
2017: Serving Humanity Award, Rotary International
2016: WISE Lifetime Achievement Award, Indian Merchant’s Chamber (IMC)
2015: SIES Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi National Eminence Award, South Indian Education Society, India
2014: The CEO India: CSR Leader
2014: ‘FAS Stree Ratna Award’, Fine Arts Society, Mumbai
2012: ‘Corporate Citizen of the Year’, The Economic Times
2011: ‘Corporate Citizen of the Year Award’, The All India Management Association (AIMA)
2010: ‘Global Golden Peacock Award for CSR’ presented by Dr. Ola Ullsten, the Former Prime Minister of Sweden in Portugal
2009: ‘Rajiv Gandhi Award’, for Eminence in Social Field
2009: ‘FICCI FLO Golden Laurel Award’
2009: ‘Lifetime Achievement in CSR’, Suryadatta National Award
2008: ‘Reader’s Digest Pegasus Star Award’, India Today
2004: Doyenne of Benevolence, Rotary Club of Thane Hills
2004: The Pride of India Award, Rotary Clubs of Mulund
2003: The Citizen of Bombay Award, Rotary Club of Bombay
2003: The Seva Shiromani Award, Rotarians in Action
2001: The Woman Achiever in 2001, Archana Trust
2001-2002: ‘Corporate Citizen of the Year’, the Economic Times

In acknowledgement of the family’s continuing commitment to polio eradication and raising literacy levels in India, the portraits of Mr. Aditya Birla and Smt. Rajashree Birla have been placed in the Rotary International Hall of Fame in Evanston, USA.

She is a humanitarian par excellence, and compassion is her only currency.

Smt. Rajashree Birla is a Director on the Board of all the major Aditya Birla Group of Companies; viz., Grasim, Hindalco and UltraTech Cement Ltd. Additionally, Smt. Birla serves as a Director on the Board of the Aditya Birla Group’s International Companies spanning Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Egypt.

Born in Bikaner and raised in Madurai, Smt. Birla studied arts, graduating from the Loretto College at Kolkata. Smt. Birla lives in Mumbai, with her family comprising, son Kumar Mangalam Birla, his wife Neerja and grandchildren, Ananyashree, Aryaman and Advaitesha. Her daughter Vasavadatta is married to industrialist Mr. Kushagra Nayan Bajaj, and they have a daughter, Anandmayi and two sons – Yugadikrit and Vishwarupe.

Ms. Ananyashree Birla Non-Executive Director

Ms. Ananyashree Birla is a successful business woman and platinum selling artist. Her first company, Svatantra Microfin Pvt Ltd, founded at the age of 17, is amongst India's fastest growing MFI's. It has crossed an AUM of 1 billion USD, and has grown at a CAGR of 120% (2015-2022). With over 7000 employees, it has consistently been accorded a Great Place To Work. With a CRISIL A+ rating, Svatantra is the youngest, highest rated organization in the sector. Svatantra successfully acquired Micro Housing Finance Corporation Ltd. in 2018. Her innovation across the business has resulted in a number of firsts in the industry, and solidified Svatantra's position as an industry leader in financial services. Ms. Birla is also the founder of design-led home decor brand Ikai Asai. On the social front, Ms. Ananya Birla has co-founded Mpower, and advocates the need for conversations around mental health in India. She is also the founder of the Ananya Birla Foundation that does pioneering research in mental health and social impact.

Mr. Aryaman Vikram Birla Non-Executive Director

Mr. Aryaman Vikram Birla comes with diverse experience which includes, entrepreneurship, VC investing, and professional sport. Aryaman is closely involved with several businesses of the Aditya Birla Group. In consultation with the Group Chairman, Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, he is actively championing the Group’s foray into new-age businesses. Aryaman helped incubate the Group’s D2C platform, TMRW, and is a director on its board. His maiden entrepreneurial foray was in the hospitality business. Aryaman is also spearheading the Group’s Venture Capital fund, Aditya Birla Ventures. Prior to joining ABG, Aryaman was a prolific first-class cricketer.

Mr. H. K. Agarwal Managing Director

Mr. H K Agarwal is Managing Director of Grasim Industries Limited, a flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group (ABG) and Business Director of the Group’s global Pulp & Fibre Business Birla Cellulose. He is also Director of Aditya Birla Management Corp. Private Limited, the apex corporate body that provides strategic direction and vision to the Group companies.

Over the last four decades, Mr. H K Agarwal has held leadership positions in the Aditya Birla Group's Cement, Chemicals, Advanced Materials, and Pulp and Fibre businesses.

He was the driving force to setting up Thailand's first hydrogen peroxide plant, initiating financial restructuring and integrating 4 different chemical entities with different sets of shareholders into Aditya Birla Chemicals (Thailand) and setting up the World's largest integrated Viscose plant in Vilayat and Fibre industry's first Zero Liquid Discharge Plant at Nagda, India.

Mr. Agarwal, a chartered accountant with an all-India rank, has completed a number of national and international management and leadership development programmes, including an Executive MBA from Sasin, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, and an AMP at Harvard. He received the Chairman's “Outstanding Leader Award” in 2012 and the "Certificate of Excellence" in 2021 for his outstanding contribution to Grasim's growth.

He is an avid marathon runner and a firm believer in the Power of Teams.

Mr. Sushil Agarwal Non-Executive Director

Mr. Sushil Agarwal is currently the Group Chief Financial Officer and Director, Aditya Birla Management Corporation Pvt. Ltd., the Group’s apex management body. He serves as a Director on the Board of several Group companies including Aditya Birla Capital Ltd. and Vodafone Idea Ltd. and is also a member of the Business Review Council of the Group. More recently, he has also been appointed as a nominee Director in Zand Bank – a Dubai based first of its kind Digital Bank, providing retail and corporate banking services.

He has been with the Group for over 30 years and has the unique distinction of working closely with the former Chairman Late Mr. Aditya Vikram Birla and current Chairman Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla. He has led various strategic initiatives of the Group, including M&A and restructurings. A strong advocate of corporate governance and trusteeship, he is widely acknowledged for his financial acumen and analytical skills.

In 2018, he was awarded as “India’s Greatest CFO” at the Asia One India’s Greatest Brands and Leaders Awards and as the “Business Leader Corporate CFO” at the 11th ICAI Awards. He was honoured with the ‘Exceptional Contributor Award’ in 2000 and ‘Outstanding Leadership Award’ in 2014 by the Chairman of Aditya Birla Group.

Mr. Sushil Agarwal is a qualified Chartered Accountant and holds a Master's Degree in Commerce.

Mr. Raj Kumar Non-Executive Director

Mr. Raj Kumar is the Managing Director of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). He has been associated with LIC for 37 years. At LIC, Mr. Kumar has handled several significant assignments, in various capacities ranging from being CEO of LIC Mutual Fund Asset Management Ltd.; Zonal Manager of Central Zone, Bhopal; Executive Director of Estate & Office Services, Human Resource Development and International Operations and taking additional charge of Management Centre, Borivali and Vigilance Department of LIC.

He has also served as Chief Public Information Officer and Appellate Authority under Right to Information of LIC and was also the Chief-Personnel and Chief-Customer Relationship Management at LIC.

He has been conferred with “Most Influential Human Resource Officer in Asia” an Award by CHRO, Asia and was also awarded “Hinditar Bhashi Samman” by Madhya Pradesh Rashtra Bhasha Prachar Samiti, Bhopal.

Mr. Kumar is a Science Graduate and has attended various training programmes at IIM- Ahmedabad, ISB-Hyderabad, NIA-Pune, Delhi Productivity Council, MDC-Mumbai etc.

Mr. Kumar also serves on the board of LIC HFL Asset Management Co. Ltd, LIC Housing Finance Ltd., LIC (Lanka) Ltd.

Ms. Anita Ramachandran Independent Director

Ms. Anita Ramachandran holds a master’s degree in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management. She is a renowned Human Resource professional with deep knowledge and experience for about 40 years as a management consultant. She is also one of the first generation of women professional to become an entrepreneur and run a highly successful HR consulting and services organisation.

Ms. Anita began her career with AF Ferguson & Co. (the KPMG network company in India then) in 1976 as the first woman consultant of the firm. In her 19 years stint with AFF she worked across various parts of the country and wide range of areas from finance, industrial market research, strategy and human resource consulting. She was finally a Director of the firm.

Ms. Anita founded Cerebrus Consultants in 1995 to focus on HR advisory services, including organisation transformation. Her reputation and innovative work helped her build Cerebrus into a firm with national presence.

Ms. Anita is known as an authority in reward management system in the country and her work in the compensation and rewards area is well recognised. In recent years she has been involved in several large organisation transformation assignments. Ms. Anita has been a regular facilitator for senior and top management workshops and an assessor for many senior positions. Her wide general management consulting experience and insights on HR has enabled her to be a strategic advisor to many family groups. She also works with several PE firms and start -ups to mentor them through their growth journey.

She is currently on the Board of Metropolis Healthcare Limited, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company Limited, Happiest Minds Technologies Limited and several other companies.

Ms. Anita supports many organisations in the social sector through pro bono professional work and remains deeply committed to work with women. She has been in the past Chairperson of TIE Women.

Mr. N. Mohan Raj Independent Director

Mr. N. Mohan Raj holds a Master’s Degree in Arts (Economics). He was the former Executive Director of Life Insurance Corporation of India and has rich experience in the field of Adminstration, Marketing of Life Insurance, Mutual Fund, Finance and Investments. He serves as Director on the Board of LTIDPL Indvit Services Limited and Veritas Finance Private Limited.

Mr. Yazdi Piroj Dandiwala Independent Director

Mr. Yazdi Piroj Dandiwala has an extensive Corporate and Commercial law practice both in contentious and non-contentious matters. He has very rich experience in transactions relating to Foreign Direct Investments and Exchange Control Regulations. With his unparalleled experience of over 40 years in corporate law, Mr. Dandiwala has advised several multinational companies in their investments, financial and technical collaborations in India.

His corporate practice extends to both large Indian corporates and MNCs, with extensive experience in intricate transactions including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, takeovers, disinvestments, investments by venture capitalists, delisting etc. His scope of work extends to structuring of transactions and rendering advice on the most tax efficient/beneficial structures.

Mr. Cyril Shroff Independent Director

Mr. Cyril Shroff has over 39 years of experience in a wide range of areas, including corporate and securities law, disputes, banking, bankruptcy, infrastructure, private client, financial regulatory and others. He holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Government Law College, Mumbai. He is consistently ranked as “star practitioner” in India by Chambers Global and often regarded as the “M&A King of India”. He is Chairman of FICCI’s Corporate Laws Committee, member of CII National Council and Financial Markets Committee, National Committee on Financial Markets & others. He is also member of first apex advisory committee of the IMC International ADR Centre, Task force member of Society of Insolvency Practitioners of India & Member of the Media Legal Defence Initiative International Advisory Board. He was a member of SEBI constituted Uday Kotak Committee on Corporate Governance and SEBI Committee on Insider Trading.

Chambers Asia Pacific 2021 recognised him as ‘Star Individual’ for Corporate/M&A and an ‘Eminent Practitioner’ for Private Equity, Restructuring & Insolvency and Banking & Finance in India, while Asian Legal Business awarded him with ‘Dealmaker of the Year 2020’.

Dr. Thomas M. Connelly, Jr. Independent Director

Dr. Thomas M. Connelly, Jr. holds bachelor’s degrees in Chemical Engineering and Economics from Princeton University. He also holds a doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge. He has over 35 years of experience in the chemical industry. He is the Executive Director and CEO of the American Chemical Society. Prior to joining ACS, he served as Chief Science and Technology Officer, and then as Chief Innovation Officer for the DuPont Company. At DuPont, Dr. Connelly led R&D organisation and businesses while based in the US, Europe and Asia. Dr. Connelly was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and has chaired studies for the academies division of earth and Life Studies. He has also served in advisory roles to the U.S. Government and the Republic of Singapore

Mr. V. Chandrasekaran Independent Director

Mr. V. Chandrasekaran is a qualified Chartered Accountant and retired Executive Director (Investment) of LIC of India. He has more than 3 decades of experience in Life Insurance Finance, Housing Finance and Mutual Fund Investment, with adequate exposure to a gamut of Investments. He is involved in Investment decision making processes, Investment Monitoring & Accounting and Investment Research and Risk Management. He serves as an Independent Director on the Board of various companies like Tamilnadu Newsprint & Papers Limited, Tata Investment Corporation Limited, etc.

Mr. Adesh Kumar Gupta Independent Director

Mr. Adesh Kumar Gupta is a qualified Chartered Accountant and a Company Secretary. Mr. Gupta is also an Insolvency Professional registered under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. He has vast experience in the field on finance and general management. He serves as an Independent Director on the Board of various companies like Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, Vinati Organics Limited, CARE Ratings Limited etc. He was the former Whole Time Director & CFO of the Company till 30th June 2015. He was recognized as Best CFO by the Institute of Chartered Accountants, IMA, Business Today. He is Ex Member NACAS as representative of FICCI. NACAS was a statutory organization constituted by Govt of India for setting up Accounting Standards.

Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla Chairman

Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla is the Chairman of the Indian multinational Aditya Birla Group, which operates in 36 countries across six continents. He is a Chartered Accountant and holds an MBA degree from the London Business School.

Mr. Birla chairs the Boards of all major Group companies in India and globally including Novelis Inc., Birla Carbon, Aditya Birla Chemicals, Domsjö Fabriker, Terrace Bay Pulp Mill, Hindalco Industries Ltd., Grasim Industries Ltd., UltraTech Cement Ltd., Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. and Aditya Birla Capital Ltd. In the 28 years, at the helm of the Group, he has accelerated growth, built meritocracy and enhanced stakeholder value. In the process he has raised the Group's turnover by well over 30x to $60 billion.

He has been the architect of over 40 successful acquisitions by the Group in India and abroad, the highest by any Indian multinational. Key acquisitions include Aleris Corporation, Novelis, the second largest acquisition ever by an Indian company, Columbian Chemicals, Domsjö Fabriker, CTP GmbH – Chemicals & Technologies, Jaypee Cement, Binani Cement, Larsen & Toubro's cement division, Indal from Alcan, Madura Garments, the Chlor Alkali division of Kanoria Chemicals and Solaris Chemtech Industries. Mr. Birla has restructured the businesses to emerge as a global leader in the sectors in which the Group operates. Under his stewardship, Aditya Birla Group enjoys a position of leadership in all the major sectors in which it operates — from cement to chemicals, metals to textiles and fashion to financial services. Anchored by an extraordinary force of 140,000 employees belonging to 100 different nationalities, over the years Mr. Birla has built a highly successful meritocratic organisation.

Under his leadership, in 2020, Aditya Birla Group was recognised as among the Forbes World's Best Employers 2020. In 2018, it was also recognised as 'The Best Employers to work for in India' by AON – Hewitt. The Group topped Nielsen's Corporate Image Monitor 2014-15 and emerged as the Number 1 corporate, the 'Best in Class', three times in a row.

Outside the Group, Mr. Birla has held 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 that crafted foundational principles of 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 the Chairman of SEBI's committee on Insider Trading which formulated corporate governance principles for Indian corporates. Mr. Birla is also the first Industrialist to be conferred Honorary membership by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI). 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.

Mr. Birla is deeply engaged with educational institutions. He is the Chancellor of the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) with campuses in Pilani, Goa, Hyderabad and Dubai. Mr. Birla is Chairman, Governing Council of BITSoM, a new age business school based in Mumbai.

On the global arena, Mr. Birla serves on the London Business School's Asia Pacific Advisory Board and is an Honorary Fellow of the London Business School. In 2019, Mr. Birla constituted a £15 million scholarship programme at the London Business School in memory of his grandfather, Mr. B.K. Birla, marking the largest ever endowed scholarship gift to a European Business School.

A firm practitioner of the trusteeship concept, Mr. Birla has institutionalised the concept of caring and giving at Aditya Birla Group. With his mandate, the Group is involved in meaningful welfare driven activities that distinctively impact the quality of life of weaker sections of society around the world.

Accolades conferred on Mr. Birla

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

• Padma Bhushan (one of India's highest civilian awards) by Government of India, 2023
• Global Entrepreneur Award by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), 2021
• ABLF Global Asian Award, 2019
• 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'
• 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
• 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 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
• '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
• 'The Business Leader of the Year', The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence 2002-2003
• 'Businessman of the Year-2003' by Business India
• The National HRD Network, 'The Outstanding Businessman of the Year', 2001
• The Institute of Directors' 'Golden Peacock National Award for Business Leadership', 2001
• Hindustan Times, 'The Businessman of the Year', 2001
• 'Among the top 10 of India's most admired and respected CEOs and the top CEO of the coming millennium', Business World, 1998

Smt. Rajashree Birla Non-Executive Director

Smt. Rajashree Birla is an exemplar in the area of community initiatives and rural development. Smt. Birla spearheads the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development, the Group’s apex body responsible for development projects.

She oversees the Group’s social and welfare driven work across the Group. The footprint of the Centre’s work straddles over 7,000 villages, reaching out to 9 million people. The Aditya Birla Group runs 20 hospitals and 5,000 medical camps treating over a million patients. Its 56 schools pan India impart quality education to over 46,500 children. Both its hospitals as well as schools are not-for-profit institutions.

Smt. Birla is the Chairperson of the FICCI – Aditya Birla CSR Centre for Excellence, Habitat for Humanity (India) and is on the Board of the Asia Pacific Committee as well as Habitat’s Global Committee.

She is the Chairperson of FICCI’s first ever Expert Committee on CSR. She serves on the Board of Director’s CSR Committee of State Bank of India. She is on the Board of BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune and Population First, Mumbai. She serves on the Akhil Bharatvarshiya Maheshwari Education Trust, Indore. As a patron of arts and culture, she heads the "Sangit Kala Kendra", a Centre for performing arts, as its President.

In recognition of the exemplary work done by Smt. Rajashree Birla, leading national and international organizations have showered accolades upon her. Among these the most outstanding one has been that of the Government of India which bestowed the “Padma Bhushan” Award in 2011 on Smt. Rajashree Birla in the area of “Social Work”.

In recognition of Smt. Birla’s unrelenting endeavours towards polio eradication,
Mrs. Pratibha Patil, the former President of India, honoured Smt. Birla with the much coveted “Polio Eradication Champion” Award at the Rashtrapati Bhavan (New Delhi).

Some of the other distinctive awards conferred upon Smt. Birla include –

2019: Guest of Honour Award for path breaking work in CSR, AsiaOne
2019: Purpose-Led Group Brand 2019 Award, Business World – BW Pure
2019: Lifetime Contribution Award, Navbharat Times
2019: Gandhi Champion Award, Gandhi Going Global (New York)
2018: Distinguished Fellowship Award, Institute of Directors (IOD)
2018: Lifetime Achievement Award, CSR Times
2018: Lifetime Achievement Award, FICCI FLO GR8 Beti Awards
2017: The Torch Bearer of Humanitarian Service, Rotary International
2017: Serving Humanity Award, Rotary International
2016: WISE Lifetime Achievement Award, Indian Merchant’s Chamber (IMC)
2015: SIES Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi National Eminence Award, South Indian Education Society, India
2014: The CEO India: CSR Leader
2014: ‘FAS Stree Ratna Award’, Fine Arts Society, Mumbai
2012: ‘Corporate Citizen of the Year’, The Economic Times
2011: ‘Corporate Citizen of the Year Award’, The All India Management Association (AIMA)
2010: ‘Global Golden Peacock Award for CSR’ presented by Dr. Ola Ullsten, the Former Prime Minister of Sweden in Portugal
2009: ‘Rajiv Gandhi Award’, for Eminence in Social Field
2009: ‘FICCI FLO Golden Laurel Award’
2009: ‘Lifetime Achievement in CSR’, Suryadatta National Award
2008: ‘Reader’s Digest Pegasus Star Award’, India Today
2004: Doyenne of Benevolence, Rotary Club of Thane Hills
2004: The Pride of India Award, Rotary Clubs of Mulund
2003: The Citizen of Bombay Award, Rotary Club of Bombay
2003: The Seva Shiromani Award, Rotarians in Action
2001: The Woman Achiever in 2001, Archana Trust
2001-2002: ‘Corporate Citizen of the Year’, the Economic Times

In acknowledgement of the family’s continuing commitment to polio eradication and raising literacy levels in India, the portraits of Mr. Aditya Birla and Smt. Rajashree Birla have been placed in the Rotary International Hall of Fame in Evanston, USA.

She is a humanitarian par excellence, and compassion is her only currency.

Smt. Rajashree Birla is a Director on the Board of all the major Aditya Birla Group of Companies; viz., Grasim, Hindalco and UltraTech Cement Ltd. Additionally, Smt. Birla serves as a Director on the Board of the Aditya Birla Group’s International Companies spanning Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Egypt.

Born in Bikaner and raised in Madurai, Smt. Birla studied arts, graduating from the Loretto College at Kolkata. Smt. Birla lives in Mumbai, with her family comprising, son Kumar Mangalam Birla, his wife Neerja and grandchildren, Ananyashree, Aryaman and Advaitesha. Her daughter Vasavadatta is married to industrialist Mr. Kushagra Nayan Bajaj, and they have a daughter, Anandmayi and two sons – Yugadikrit and Vishwarupe.

Mr. H K Agarwal Managing Director, Grasim Industries Limited

Mr. H K Agarwal is Managing Director of Grasim Industries Limited, a flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group (ABG) and Business Director of the Group’s global Pulp & Fibre Business Birla Cellulose. He is also Director of Aditya Birla Management Corp. Private Limited, the apex corporate body that provides strategic direction and vision to the Group companies.

Over the last four decades, Mr. H K Agarwal has held leadership positions in the Aditya Birla Group's Cement, Chemicals, Advanced Materials, and Pulp and Fibre businesses.

He was the driving force to setting up Thailand's first hydrogen peroxide plant, initiating financial restructuring and integrating 4 different chemical entities with different sets of shareholders into Aditya Birla Chemicals (Thailand) and setting up the World's largest integrated Viscose plant in Vilayat and Fibre industry's first Zero Liquid Discharge Plant at Nagda, India.

Mr. Agarwal, a chartered accountant with an all-India rank, has completed a number of national and international management and leadership development programmes, including an Executive MBA from Sasin, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, and an AMP at Harvard. He received the Chairman's “Outstanding Leader Award” in 2012 and the "Certificate of Excellence" in 2021 for his outstanding contribution to Grasim's growth.

He is an avid marathon runner and a firm believer in the Power of Teams.

Mr. Jayant V Dhobley Business Head and CEO
Global Chemicals, Fashion Yarn, & Insulators

Mr. Jayant V Dhobley joined the Aditya Birla Group in January 2021. Prior to joining ABG, Jayant worked for Amcor Limited where he led Strategy & Operations for the Asia Pacific region.

He has about 30 years of experience in the Specialty Materials, Polymers, Packaging & Chemical Industries of which over 17 years were with the Engineering Materials division of Royal DSM NV.

Mr. Dhobley has worked across multiple functions (P&L, Strategy, M&A, Projects, Operations) in both regional and global roles. He has a deep understanding of Asia Pacific markets after living in Shanghai, China for 10 years (2002-12) followed by 8 years in Singapore (2012-20).

Mr. Dhobley has a B.E. in Polymer Technology from the University of Pune and is a Life Member of the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers. He has attended Executive Leadership Programs both at Wharton School of Business USA and Duke CE USA.

Mr. Himanshu Kapania Business Head - Decorative Paint business

Mr. Himanshu Kapania is leading the new foray of Grasim into Decorative Paint business as ‘Business Head’ with an initial investment of Rs.10,000 crores.

Mr. Kapania concurrently is the Business Head of ‘Birla White’ and is on the Board of ‘RAK company for White Cement & Construction Materials’ UAE.

He is also the Non-Executive - Vice Chairman of ‘Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Limited’.

Mr. Himanshu Kapania, an alumnus of IIM Bangalore and BIT Mesra, was the former Managing Director of erstwhile Idea Cellular renamed ‘Vodafone Idea Limited’ (VIL) after merger with Vodafone India and is currently the Non-Executive Director at VIL Board.

He has over 37 years of work experience primarily in Leadership, Technology, Operations, Sales & Marketing, Regulatory & advocacy etc., with deep understanding of Indian consumers and society.

Mr. Kapania brings with him rich diverse experiences across Automobile, Consumer Durables, Telecom, Office Automation, Construction Sectors & Digital Services industries.

In the past, Mr. Kapania served on the Global GSMA Board and was the Chairman of COAI during the period 2012-14 and 2015-16.

Mr Kapania has been consistently recognized for his leadership skills and is a recipient of many prestigious awards including - ‘Business Today’ and ‘Voice & Data’ India’s Best CEO Award in 2014 & 2015; CNBC India Business Leadership Award in 2015 and ET Telecom Award in 2014 & 2016 etc.

Currently, Mr. Kapania is Chairman of FICCI Council on ‘Telecom, Electronics and Digital Economy’ and ‘FICCI Task Force on Privacy and Data Security’.

Mr. Kapil Agrawal Business Head- Domestic Textile Business

Mr. Kapil Agrawal is Business Head, Textile, Aditya Birla Group. He is a Chartered Accountant and has completed a number of national and international management and leadership development programs, including INSEAD's cutting-edge program, advanced management program at Harvard, and Global Leadership Program at IIM Ahmedabad. He received the Chairman's "Outstanding Leader Award" in 2022.

Mr. Kapil has been with the Aditya Birla Group for the last 29 years and has held multiple crucial positions across businesses. He has worked across multiple roles which is Executive Assistant to Chairman, Regional Head & Head for Buying and Merchandising, Head of Supply Chain and Head of Operations. In his last assignment, he led a team of ±5000 people with diverse ethnicities – Indian, Thai, Indonesians, German and Slovaks.

He has clear passion for strong operational excellence and astute financial management and working capital management. He brings very strong intensity to his work bringing a balance of processes and strategic perspective to the table.

Mr. Pavan K Jain Grasim Industries Limited
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Pavan K Jain has a stellar career track record spanning over three decades in the Aditya Birla Group, and in different stints including Birla White, Grey Cement and Grasim CFD. He is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and an Associate Member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. He has also completed the Executive Development Program of The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Mr. Jain has brought a deep sense of commitment to all the roles he has played, and has significant experience in the area of M&A, Finance, Accounting, Regulatory & Secretarial matters. He has earlier successfully handled Finance & Commercial Functions in Cement Business of the Group establishing some of the best practices in FP&A function as well as other Commercial functions such as Procurement, Materials Management, Logistics etc.

After moving to Corporate Finance Division of Grasim Industries Limited in 2004, he contributed to establishing some of the best practices in the Financial Reporting, Internal Controls and Risk Management systems across Grasim Businesses and also to various Corporate/Business restructuring plans and M&A activities of the Company.