Aditya Birla Group's textile, chemical businesses to have unified management setup

MUMBAI: The Aditya Birla group has created unified management structures for its global chemicals, textiles and fibre business as it embarks on a fresh round of restructuring to realign businesses under different sectors to cut costs and bring sharp focus.

Group directors KK Maheshwari and Rakesh Jain have been made the heads of the global textiles and chemicals businesses with the $38-billion business conglomerate’s Indian as well as overseas textiles and chemicals businesses coming under the respective structures.

“As businesses were growing bigger, we want to consolidate everything under sectors. It brings business logic, talent logic and structural logic,” said Santrupt Misra, head, human resources, Aditya Birla group. The changes will be effective from January 1, 2013.

The current restructuring is part of a series of initiatives taken by group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla to consolidate businesses under different sectors. He started the process by combining aluminium and copper businesses under the head of metals and brought it under the leadership of Hindalco managing director Debu Bhattacharya.

Later, retail and carbon black businesses were brought under common structures. “Given the growing size of our businesses, I believe it will be appropriate for us to regroup businesses into some distinct sectors. We took the first step to create the sectoral approach by combining aluminium and copper into metals business and brought it under one leadership,’’ said Kumar Mangalam Birla in an internal communication to employees.

Under the new structure in the textile business, Thomas Varghese will be the CEO of the textiles business in India and acrylic fibre & spinning businesses abroad. All unit heads in these businesses will report to him. Mr Varghese will report to KK Maheshwari.

In the chemical business, Lalit Naik will be responsible for all chemical businesses including Aditya Birla Chemicals, Thailand. The group had consolidated four of its overseas chemical businesses under Aditya Birla Chemicals three years ago. Raj Narayanan, the head of Aditya Birla Chemicals, will report to Lalit Naik. Lalit Naik will also have an expanded role with insulators and fertiliser business reporting to him.

He will also take over as deputy managing director, Aditya Birla Nuvo. Naik will report to Rakesh Jain. The Aditya Birla Group was among the earliest Indian groups to invest in a variety of industries all across the world.

Aditya Birla, the father of the current chairman Kumar Mangalam, started a carbon black plant in Thailand in the early 1980s. Since then, the group has expanded its presence with plants in other places such as India, Egypt, China and now South America. Atlanta-based Columbian Chemicals was acquired by the group for Rs 3,923 crore.