Shri Birla was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to trade and industry.
On receiving the award, Shri Kumar Mangalam Birla said, “The spirit of nation-building and trusteeship has guided my family across generations. And so, to receive this national honour is indeed humbling. I thank the Honourable President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu and the Honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, for this prestigious honour which I accept on behalf of 140,000 colleagues from 36 countries. This award is a recognition of the longitudinal impact of the Aditya Birla Group— in enriching lives and in demonstrating through actions that business is a force for good”.
He is the third person in the family to receive this honour, before this Shri Birla’s mother Mrs. Rajshree Birla has also been honoured with the Padma Bhushan, as well as Mr. D. Birla has been honoured with Padma Vibhushan.
About Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla
- Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla, born on June 14th 1967, is an Indian billionaire industrialist, philanthropist and the Chairman of the venerable Indian Multinational Conglomerate, Aditya Birla Group.
- A fifth generation member of the Birla Family from Rajasthan, Mr Birla was born in Kolkata and grew up in a joint family in Mumbai with his parents Mr Aditya Vikram Birla and Mrs Rajashree Birla and younger sister Ms Vasavadatta Birla.
- In the 28+ years that he has been 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 30 times, from US$ 2 billion to US$ 60 billion (as on 31st March, 2022).
- Mr Birla has led 40 acquisitions in India and globally, among the highest by any Indian multinational. Major acquisitions under leadership of Mr Birla include:
- 1999: Madura Garments acquired by Indian Rayon and Industries. Through this acquisition, the Group became the owner of premium brands such as Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Peter England and Louis Philippe.
- 2004: UltraTech CemCo, the demerged cement operation of Larsen & Toubro. A USD 7.1 billion building solutions powerhouse, UltraTech is the largest manufacturer of grey cement and ready mix concrete (RMC) in India. It is also one of the leading players in the white cement segment in India.
- 2007: Novelis, the world’s leading producer of aluminium rolled products and the largest recycler of aluminium, acquired by Mr Birla’s flagship metals company, Hindalco.
- 2012: Future Group’s Pantaloons acquired by Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited (ABNL). With this acquisition, ABNL entered into multiple brands, store formats and a complete range across categories spanning casual wear, ethnic wear, formal wear, party wear and sportswear for men, women and kids.
- 2020: Aleris, a US based, global aluminium flat rolled producer, acquired by Novelis. This acquisition made Hindalco one of the world’s largest aluminium companies, with a global footprint spanning 49 state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and Asia.
- Mr Birla studied at London Business School and was awarded Master of Business Administration from University of London in 1992. He is now an Honorary Fellow of the London Business School. Mr Birla constituted a £15mn 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. He is also a Chartered Accountant from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).
- Mr Birla is the first Indian Industrialist to be conferred an Honorary degree by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI).
- Mr Birla is the Chancellor of the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, with campuses in Pilani, Goa, Hyderabad, and Dubai, BITSoM (School of Management) and recently launched BITS Law School. He has also served as the Chairman of the Board at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM A) and IIT Delhi.
- Mr Birla was the architect of the first-ever governance code for Corporate India as he chaired the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Committee on Corporate Governance.
- 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.
- Over the years, Mr Birla has been conferred several prestigious awards. He was the first Indian Industrialist to receive the TiE Global Entrepreneurship Award for Business Transformation in 2021. He has also been awarded the Economic Times “Business Leader Award for Corporate Excellence” in 2003 and 2013. In addition, he has received several awards and honours from leading institutions like EY, Forbes, CNBC, CNN-News18 and World Economic Forum (WEF).
- Mr Birla’s mother, Mrs Rajashree Birla has also been conferred with the Padma Bhushan, as well as Mr Birla’s great grandfather, Mr G. D. Birla with the Padma Vibhushan.
