Invest and expand despite crises, says Aditya Birla Group Chairman

Businesses must continue investing and expanding despite global crises, as growth cannot halt, said Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla. He cited capital allocation and geopolitics as key challenges for global businesses.

Businesses must continue investing and expanding despite global crises and rising capital demands, as growth cannot come to a halt, Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said. Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy forum, the Birla Group Chairman said that despite global uncertainties and disruptions, the group has continued investing in both existing and new businesses, as sustained growth remains essential.

Growth and Capital Allocation

“You can't stop growing...for me capital allocation has been a challenge because you have a whole lot of new demands on your capital which we know about but at the same time...you keep growing; you either grow or you go down,” he said.

Navigating Global Challenges

Apart from capital allocation, Birla identified geopolitical developments as another major challenge for businesses operating across multiple countries. “We are a global organization and when I read about a significant global event in the newspapers I can be sure that it will impact us somewhere in the business, somewhere in the world which I may not even sort of understand the full impact of when I'm reading it in the papers.”

Focus on People and Competitiveness

Apart from this, Birla stressed the need for employees to collaborate, learn from one another and understand the connections between seemingly unrelated global developments, while adding the focus of companies must remain on strengthening the fundamental competitiveness of individual businesses. “At the end of the day, it's people who make the difference and I think keeping them going and keeping them enthused and energetic is an equally important task,” he said.

Cost and Scale as Strategy

Citing the group's manufacturing operations, Birla said cost competitiveness and scale remain central to its business strategy. “I think it's about building the inherent strength of the business. So, for example, in all our manufacturing businesses, we'd be in the bottom decile of the cost curve globally. So, amongst the 10% lowest cost producers, it's about scale,” he added. (ANI)

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