Kumar Mangalam Birla, the Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group shared his reflections for the 2024-25 whereas shedding gentle on the uncertainty in 2025, affect of Donald Trump, significance of expertise, India’s manufacturing energy and the daring strikes undertaken by the Group to solidify its place in 2025.
Right here’s what Birla mentioned:
As we enter 2024, we attain a big milestone — 1 / 4 of a century. It’s outstanding to replicate on the huge quantity of historical past that has unfolded in simply 25 years. This period has been something however bizarre.
We’ve skilled seismic shifts, from the rise of the digital age and the globalization of economies to local weather challenges and the unstoppable march of synthetic intelligence. These 25 years have witnessed adjustments that, previously, may need taken centuries to unfold. In some ways, totally different historic durations have collided and blended, leaving us with a world that’s extra linked but extra divided, extra superior but full of nervousness, and extra hopeful but unsure than ever earlier than.
Embracing Uncertainty in 2025
Looking forward to 2025, we discover ourselves in a U3 world — unsure, unpredictable, and unorthodox. The hot button is not to withstand this uncertainty however to embrace it. This reset might nicely outline the paradox of our time: a world brimming with potential however overshadowed by ambiguity. Whereas it could appear that social media is shaping actuality, the true image is way extra complicated and impactful than the surface-level pictures we see on our feeds.
Trump issue and world affect
One component that might dramatically form the yr forward is the Trump Issue. This has the potential to redefine world geopolitical dynamics, with vital implications for the worldwide financial system and enterprise surroundings. The US has lengthy been an important marketplace for our Group exterior India, with investments surpassing $15 billion, together with a $4 billion greenfield growth at the moment underway.
I stay assured that the power of the India-US relationship will proceed to develop within the years to come back. The US financial system stays unmatched in its dynamism, and our investments will contribute to the revitalization of its increasing manufacturing sector. As Warren Buffett properly mentioned, “By no means wager towards America.”
India’s rising manufacturing energy
The worldwide push in direction of manufacturing is a welcome improvement, signaling a transfer in direction of extra resilient and diversified provide chains. India, usually underestimated in its industrial power, is well-positioned to grab this chance. The migration of Apple’s ecosystem to India is a transparent instance; quickly, 1 / 4 of the world’s iPhones will probably be produced there. India’s car sector has additionally grow to be a world power, exporting elements and automobiles worldwide.
India’s cement business: A hidden powerhouse
One in every of India’s less-recognized industrial triumphs is its cement business, which is the second largest on the earth. This very important sector has fueled infrastructure development throughout the nation, creating jobs and driving financial improvement. In 2024, our flagship cement firm, UltraTech Cement, surpassed a big milestone with a capability of 150 MTPA. UltraTech now produces greater than 1.5 instances the whole cement output of america and holds a capability better than 80% of Europe’s. It is a testomony to India’s rising industrial power and its rising affect within the world manufacturing renaissance.
2024: A yr of daring strikes
For us on the Aditya Birla Group, 2024 has been a yr of outstanding achievements — a interval after we’ve totally embraced our position as a driver of transformative investments. We’ve seen the breadth and depth of our companies come to life, from scaling new development platforms like paints, jewellery retail, and B2B e-commerce for constructing supplies, to reinforcing management in our core companies like cement and metals. We’ve revitalized our telecom three way partnership and accelerated the transformation of our monetary providers and style retail companies. This actually has been a yr of main milestones.
Energy and dynamism of Aditya Birla Group
Every of those initiatives stands by itself as a big achievement, however collectively they showcase the ability and dynamism of our Group. With our distinctive mixture of capital, expertise, model power, and business experience, we’ve been capable of transfer with pace and decisiveness, even within the face of world uncertainty.
I’ve all the time believed that the stronger we develop, the better the affect we are able to have, and the extra lives we are able to enrich. This philosophy encourages us to suppose expansively in regards to the constructive outcomes we are able to create for all our stakeholders — workers, customers, companions, buyers, and society at giant. Finally, enterprise should be a power for good.
Celebrating BITS Pilani’s Legacy
2024 additionally marked the sixtieth anniversary of BITS Pilani, an establishment based by my great-grandfather, Mr. GD Birla, and nurtured by our household over generations. BITS Pilani has grow to be a logo of India’s entrepreneurial spirit, and I’ve had the privilege of main it for the previous 16 years. It has made a transformative affect on India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, with over 6,400 startup founders, together with the creators of 17 unicorns and decacorns.
BITS Pilani has all the time fostered vital pondering, daring goals, and relentless ambition. I recall a dialog with my great-grandfather within the Seventies after I remarked that BITS would maintain Pilani within the highlight. He smiled and replied, “Whereas Pilani’s recognition is a constructive end result, the true goal was to create a expertise manufacturing facility for a quickly industrializing India.” His phrases stay a robust reminder of the establishment’s deeper function.
This perception within the energy of expertise can also be mirrored within the Aditya Birla Scholarships, a program launched 25 years in the past in reminiscence of my father. In the present day, this system has 781 students, a gifted group shaping the way forward for world companies and establishments. Investing in expertise is the inspiration upon which we construct the long run.
Subsequent part of the twenty first century
As we glance again on the primary twenty years of the twenty first century, expertise has dominated the panorama. Social media democratized content material, amplified voices, and opened alternatives at an unprecedented scale. Nevertheless, this revolution has additionally come at a price — the identical instruments that linked billions additionally fragmented societies, polarized discourse, and eroded belief. We could also be nearing the height of this divisive second.
New period of unity
The subsequent decade may deliver a extra profound transformation — one the place expertise is harnessed as a power for unity. The will for authenticity and deeper connection, past algorithm-driven engagement, will drive the subsequent wave of innovation. Platforms will evolve to bridge divides, foster understanding, and have a good time shared humanity. This drive for connection will prolong past social media and affect how companies, governments, and communities interact with people. From digital communities to immersive applied sciences that dissolve boundaries, the search for connection might grow to be the glue that binds a fractured world.
Imaginative and prescient for the long run
The subsequent chapter of the twenty first century awaits us, demanding imaginative and prescient, readability, and dedication. We stand on the cusp of a brand new period, with the potential to form a extra unified, linked, and affluent world.
