Industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya Birla Group, called on Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday and discussed various ongoing and upcoming projects involving an estimated investment of ₹5,000 crore in the state.
Birla, who was born in Calcutta but now lives in Mumbai, also expressed his desire to set up a “world-class educational institute” in the city, according to a post on X by Mamata.
“While this was a courtesy visit, he (Birla) discussed with me the business opportunities of Bengal and their investment intentions here. They are having ongoing/ in- pipeline projects worth ₹5,000 crore in different sectors like cement and paints manufacturing,” Mamata wrote on X.
In the meeting at the state secretariat Nabanna, the chief minister assured Birla of her support. The tête-à-tête is the first publicly known interaction Mamata held with a high-profile industrialist after scoring a resounding political victory in the general election in Bengal.
Aditya Birla Group, which has a market capitalisation over $100 billion through seven publicly listed companies, is in the process of setting up a paint factory and cement grinding unit in Kharagpur.
The paint factory, which is slated to go for commercial production by March 2025, alone entails an investment of ₹1,500 crore. The unit, which is part of ABG’s maiden foray into the paints industry, will cater to the entire eastern and northeastern region under the brand Birla Opus.
The Mumbai-based Group is also setting up a cement grinding unit in the state under UltraTech Cement, India’s largest cement producer. With three units already under production, the operation of the 4th unit would take UltraTech’s capacity to 11 million tonnes in Bengal.
ABG’s footprint in the state also spans 150 fashion retail outlets, including Pantaloons, and 60 branches of financial services. Birla also has a textile and aluminium flat-rolled product unit in Bengal.
While Birla, grandson of industrialist Basant Kumar Birla, already has a deep connection with the city and the state because of his family ties, his involvement with Calcutta has gone up a few notches in recent months after the death of his aunt Manjushree Khaitan.
The educational institutions, which Khaitan used to run under Ashok Hall Group of Schools, are now being looked after by Birla. Kala Mandir, a Calcutta landmark on Theatre Road promoting art and culture for 75 years, is also now under Birla’s supervision.
Sources said Birla, the most successful successor of legendary industrialist Ghanshyam Das Birla, plans big upgrades in the facilities in the coming months and years. In the past, the industrialist, who also manages the engineering institute BITS, had evinced interest in setting up an education institute in Rajarhat.
“What he (Birla) would do will also depend on the size and location of land available,” said a source close to the Birla family.
Birla’s visit also comes at a time the state government has started the groundwork for another edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit in 2025. The Mumbai-based industrialist who has an ancestral bungalow at Birla Park on Gurusaday Dutta Road, may feature in the latest edition.
In her post on social media, Mamata mentioned that ABG has other plans for fresh investment but did not offer details.
