The Aditya Birla Group has taken a cue from the Tatas and Reliance. All group companies are likely to have the name of its founder-chairman, and the creation of Aditya Birla Nuvo is just the beginning.
Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla told Business Standard that all group companies bearing the same name tag was a possibility. But he did not say how soon this would be implemented.
The country’s third largest business group has several companies under its umbrella, including Hindalco, Grasim, Shree Digvijay Cement and UltraTech Cement apart from Aditya Birla Nuvo.
The Birlas have traditionally named companies either after the place where they operate from or after the names of newborns in the Birla clan. The group has never changed the name of an acquired company. Basant Kumar Birla, the chairman of the BK Birla group, in fact, set up Mangalam Cement after the birth of his grandson Kumar Mangalam.
Sources within the group said the move to lend the Aditya Birla tag to the merged entity was well-thought out. "This is a brand-building exercise. We need to use the Aditya Birla tag to differentiate our group companies from other Birla outfits." Kumar Mangalam has coined the word Nuvo, which indicates new age and new opportunities.
Experts also said a round of consolidation might happen in the cement business of the group. But Birla declined to comment on that. Grasim is the main cement company of the group. UtltraTech, the cement business of Larsen and Toubro, which the group acquired last year, is a subsidiary of Grasim. Shree Digvijay Cement is privately held by the group.
