Scale reshapes industry economics, says Kumar Mangalam Birla

The scale of a company can begin to reshape the economics of the industry itself, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group said. “In a capital intensive industry such as cement, for example, scale creates certainty. It gives suppliers the confidence to innovate, technology partners the incentive to invest, logistics providers the flexibility to optimize, and customers the assurance to plan ahead and develop deeper relationships,” he said while addressing the participants of the 109^th Annual General Meeting of the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI).

Citing an example, he said that UltraTech Cement’s journey is a good illustration. “It took us 36 years to build our first 100 million tonnes of cement capacity. We added the next 100 million in less than seven. Today, at over 200 million tonnes, UltraTech is the largest cement company in the world outside China. Its installed capacity exceeds one and a half times that of the entire United States,” Mr. Birla pointed out.

“In FY25 and FY26 alone, we commissioned 24.3 MTPA of capacity and acquired 26.3 MTPA. Together, this added more than 50 MTPA of capacity in under two years only, he added.

“At a time when geopolitical tensions disrupted supply chains, fuel costs, and business confidence across sectors, UltraTech increased its operating cash flow by 50% in FY26. That performance is the outcome of two decades spent building a company with the resilience to absorb shocks,” he noted.

Mr.Birla also said that more than 7,000 colleagues have spent over two decades with the Aditya Birla Group. “In an age when talent is more mobile than ever before, commitment of that kind must be earned. Institutions are most often judged by the businesses they build. I believe they should also be judged by the leaders they build and by the confidence and agency those leaders have to shape outcomes,” he said. “Over the years, I have come to believe that the greatest responsibility of an institution is to create a pipeline of talent and to give talented people the space and the confidence to make bold decisions,” he added.

Ramkumar Shankar, the Chamber’s outgoing president and Advisor, Chemplast Sanmar Limited said, “While we at the Madras Chamber are proud of, and celebrate our rich history, we are very much aware that we cannot live in the past. As we enter the decade leading to our bicentenary, the Chamber itself must continue to evolve, to stay relevant.”

He further added, “We need to deepen our engagement with emerging sectors, strengthen international partnerships, support MSMEs and start-ups, promote responsible business practices, and continue to serve as a trusted platform for dialogue, consensus-building and collaboration.”

MCCI said that A.Viswanathan, President, Delphi TVS Technologies Limited, has been elected as President of the Chamber and Murali Vaidyanathan, President, Wheels India Limited, has been chosen to be the Vice President in the 190th Annual General Meeting.